Breaking Free
by Bemac
Summary: Charlie, Danny and "Nate"/Jason are on the run from the Militia after escaping the train. Their world is right on the edge of a Revolution, what will their part be?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story starts on the train during the episode "Soul Train". Just something to help the week pass by, since there was no show this Monday... sigh. **

***For those that followed me from Lost and Wondering, I am still writing it and will be posting a new chapter soon. Just had to get this story off my brain, the relationship between Charlie and Jason is just so cute and interesting, I had to.***

**Hope you all like it.**

Jason was nearing his Father's compartment as he heard loud banging on the wall, knowing that his Father had the boy in there with him, he hesitated before opening the door, if his Father was beating him up he didn't want to see it, but he opened the door anyway. He saw Charlie, then he saw that his Father had her pinned up against the wall choking the life out of her. With a knee jerk reaction Jason picked up a bottle and smashed it over his Father's head. Charlie fell to the ground gasping for air, Jason knelt and took her shoulders in his hands.

"Are you alright?" He asked looking in her eyes.

Her eyes were a little wild from the terror of not being able to breathe and all she could do was nod a few times.

"We have to hurry," Jason said as he helped Charlie to her feet, she immediately looked over for Danny, he had been knocked out but was starting to come to. She rushed over to him and took his arms to get him moving. Jason paused for a moment, he had just wanted to get Charlie away from his Father, helping the boy escape is something else. Monroe himself wanted this boy, they'd have the militia on their heels. He looked over to his Father, who still lay unconscious on the floor surrounded by shards of glass from the bottle. He had no choice, he needed to get Charlie off the train and she wouldn't leave without her brother, and he knew that he couldn't leave her, he _needed_ to be there to protect her. He grabbed his bow and quiver and his pack that he had set down when they boarded the train and opened the door, the grass and trees were rushing past.

"Cover your head," He told them both, but was looking at Charlie. Jason took one last look at his Father before jumping after Danny and Charlie.

Jason hit the ground and rolled; as soon as he could stop himself he stood up. They needed to move. When they realize that the prisoner has escaped they will stop the train and come looking for them. He quickly found Charlie and Danny.

"Come on," Jason said grabbing Charlie's elbow. Both Charlie and Danny looked dazed still, but had enough wits about them to go into survival mode and both hurried along, following Jason.

"We've got to get to a stream or lake," Jason said, "We've got to cover our tracks."

"Miles," Charlie said stopping.

Jason turned around and looked at her, "We don't have time. We've got to move. He can take care of himself."

Charlie still didn't move, Jason saw her eyes flick back towards the direction of the train tracks.

"We can look for him later, you don't understand, it's _us_ that they will be looking for. Or rather _him_," He said with a nod to Danny, "We have got to get as far away from them as possible."

Charlie reluctantly followed again. Silently they headed south, Jason was setting the pace at a steady jog. Jason would allow them small breaks, where they could walk.

During one of these breaks Charlie asked, "So, do you still want me to call you Nate, or do you think it's time for me to know your real name?"

"Jason."

"You're his son," Danny said, it wasn't a question or even an accusation, it was a fact. Danny had seen Jason board the train and had watched as the Father and son spoke together. Jason looked back over at Danny, his shaggy blonde hair hung over his eyes but it didn't mask the fierceness in his eyes as he stared at Jason.

"Wait," Charlie stopped walking, and looked at Jason, "What? You're whose son?"

"Tom Neville," Jason said, and looked forward - refusing to look at her.

A long pause, "Captain Neville," Charlie said slowly, realizing the full extent of what Jason had done to help them escape, "Why?"

"I had to," Jason said. When that didn't seem enough of an answer for her he turned and faced her, "He was going to kill you."

Charlie stood there for a while looking back at Jason.

"Come on," Jason said, "Need to keep going."

They passed through a few small streams, but Jason said they weren't deep enough to throw the scent off enough to fool the Militia's hounds. Finally after over an hour they reached a wide slow-moving river.

"I'd take off my shoes unless you want wet feet tomorrow and the next." Was all Jason said as he slipped his off and tied them around his neck.

The water came up to their waists and they carefully waded down river. When Jason decided they had gone far enough down the stream he picked a bank with several roots jetting out into the water. A good area to climb out without leaving a trace. He told them to step where he stepped as he climbed out. They got out on the same side that they had climbed in on. Jason decided this was safest because the Militia would probably think that they'd cross the river to continue heading south, so they'd have the hounds on the other side of the river looking to pick up their trail again. Barefoot they started walking, trying to leave no trace or track behind them. Their clothes were soaking wet, Jason took his wet shirt off, so it could dry faster. Charlie couldn't help but watch the subtle movements in his back muscles as he walked. She noticed Danny had taken his shirt off also, and the sight of his bruises forced any thought of Jason's muscles out of her mind. Some of his bruises looked fresh, while some looked a few days old. Her heart clinched as she thought of what he had suffered during his captivity. She slipped her arms out of her jacket. Jason must have heard the rustle of her clothing, because when Charlie faced forward again he had turned and was looking at her. They looked at one another for a moment more, before Charlie said blandly, "Sorry. That's all that's coming off."

Jason smirked and faced forward. As he walked he swung his pack around and did a quick inventory of everything he had on him, his sword was still hanging on his belt like always, his bow and quiver with twenty arrows, his water skin, a small container of dried berries and nuts, and a first aid kit that held iodine, fever pills, bandages and a needle and thread. He mentally cursed himself for not grabbing his jacket, for the extra protection and for the swiss army knife in it's pocket. The luck was rotten that he had just cleaned through his pack to had taken things out to be washed or repaired. He knew that his blanket and extra shirt would be missed tonight. He closed his pack and secured it back in place.

The sun was going to be setting soon and Jason had noticed dark clouds edging closer, they needed to find some form of shelter or they'd be getting even wetter.

Danny had taken step next to his sister, "What's the story here?"

Charlie looked over at him, "What?"

"When did you meet him and why would you call him Nate?"

She paused for a moment before answering, "I met him when we set off to rescue you. He gave me a fake name and used us to find Uncle Miles. Miles pegged him as Militia and he ran. Then he tried to stalk us, but wasn't too successful," She said the last part a bit louder, knowing that Jason could hear everything.

Jason turns around and faces her, "You're forgetting how I saved your life, I count four times… so far," He gave an irritated sigh and threw his arms in the air, "And you cuffed me to a telephone pole!"

Charlie narrowed her eyes slightly, she didn't need him to remind her, the men from the plane, the fight in Chicago, the creepy guy from the fair and lastly he saved her from his own Father. She turned back to Danny, "And, he keeps popping up to save me."

The trio start walking again. Danny breaks the silence, "You handcuffed him to a pole?" There's a tone of amusement in Danny's voice.

Charlie gives Danny a small smirk, Jason scowls as he remembers the frustration of having been tricked by her so easily, and then watching her walk away from him.

Danny continues talking on a different subject, "I heard Captain Neville talking about Miles… What is he doing here? I thought he was holed away in Chicago."

"I asked him to help me find you," Charlie said with a shrug, "He agreed."

"Do you know where he'd be now?"

"We left Aaron and Nora back in town. They'll probably meet up at our old campsite."

"Aaron came?!" Danny said with slight disbelief, he couldn't picture Aaron on a rescue mission, they guy was always so timid, "And who's Nora?"

"Friend of Uncle Miles… She was behind that explosion that almost killed us all on the train."

"Definitely sounds like a friend of Uncle Miles."

"Up ahead," Jason said looking back at them.

Charlie and Danny look over to where Jason to pointing, an old shed. One of the four wooden walls looked decayed, the tin roof was sagging slightly, but the other walls looked like they would hold up. The inside held an old mower and some gardening tools, rusted out.

"We need to try to find dry wood," Jason said and started scrounging around the trees, looking for dead branches and breaking them off and started a pile by the shed.

"There's a house over that way," Danny pointed over to where a small one story home was barely visible through the trees.

"Stay out of sight, I'll go check it out," Jason said to both of them. Charlie rolled her eyes and followed after him, ignoring Danny as he questioned her.

Jason was crouching by a rusting car looking at the home. Windows were smashed in and grass had grown tall around the porch and doorway.

Charlie came up beside him and whispered, "Doesn't look like anyone is home."

"Told you stay out of sight," He told her angrily.

She gave him a look that clearly said, "So what?"

Charlie was right though, there didn't appear to be anyone living or squatting there.

"OK, just please stay here, I'll go see if I can see in the windows," Jason gave her a stern look. Charlie didn't say anything and Jason stood slowly to move away, then shot another look at Charlie, who finally held her hands up in surrender, "I'll stay put."

Charlie watched him move stealthily to the house, he was still shirtless and her eyes were drawn to his muscles, watching them move. He got to the window and peered in.

The house looked like it had been abandoned and picked over a long time ago. Little green sprouts were growing on the carpets by the windows and nobody had tried to clean up the broken glass from the windows.

Hesitantly and carefully Jason moved towards the door that was standing open. He moved across the carpet and looked around, evidence of someone smashing the wooden furniture lay on the tile floor of what used to be the dinning area. People had probably used it for firewood. The cabinets in the kitchen were hanging open, completely bare.

"Think there is anything useful?" Charlie said coming through the door.

Jason turned around, "Damn it Charlie, you were supposed to stay put."

"Are you going to sit there and lecture me, or help find something of use?"

They stared at one another for a moment, Charlie looked away first and started looking around the room. Jason's eyes lingered on Charlie's lips for a moment then slowly moved down her body. The fact that they were alone stayed on his mind for more than a moment as she moved down a small hall. Resisting the urge to follow after her, he turned to what was left of the kitchen

Jason searched the drawers and found a good knife that needed some sharpening, a cast iron skillet and spool of string.

"Jason," Charlie called from down the hall. He felt his heart melt slightly as she said his real name for the first time.

He moved down the hall and was just about to enter a room as she was coming out of it. She put her hands out to stop them from running into each other and her hands landed on his bare chest. They stood there for a moment, Jason relished in the feeling of her touch on his skin.

Charlie blinked, coming back to her senses, and lowered her hands and took a step back, "I found some towels and a blanket."

"Good."

They stood there silently for a moment more, then with his heart racing, Jason took a step towards her and lifted his hand up and slowly brushed her hair away from her face, running his fingers through her soft tresses.

"Charlie," He practically whispered. She looked up into his eyes, and they held each other's gaze. Charlie's heart was pounding and her mind was racing. She could tell that he wanted to kiss her, that he was going to kiss her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Charlie?" Danny voice quietly called out from the door.

The trance broken Charlie looked down the hall towards the front door.

"Yeah, Danny, we're here."

Jason's insides were fuming because of the moment he had lost with her, he thought to himself angrily, "I should've just grabbed her and kissed her." His mind briefly wonders what her reaction would've been if he had done that, would she have slapped him? Punched him? He settles his thoughts on thinking about how her lips would taste and how soft they would be.

Charlie is gathering up a pile of old towels that may have (at one time) been pink, when Danny walks in.

"There's an old garden out back. Looks like some rhubarb is growing and maybe some onions also," he says and helps his sister with the towels and blanket.

Jason can't help but glower at Danny, if he hadn't come in he would have still been alone with Charlie… maybe his arms would be wrapped around her…

"Good, I'm starving," Charlie said. Hearing her express her hunger snapped Jason out of his thoughts.

"I can shoot some game, I saw some rabbits running around… There's a skillet I found in the kitchen we can use to cook with… We need to get the fire going."

"I found some more dried wood," Danny says, then spies the fireplace in the living room, "Couldn't we just stay here, it'd be drier."

"But not safer. This house stands out more than the shed does," Jason tells him. One more once over on the house, Jason found some plates that had been smashed on the floor, but was able to find three that weren't completely broken. And found some silverware also that was covered in cobwebs and dust.

They bring their haul out to the shed. Together they look over the garden that had turned over grown and wild over the years. Charlie and Danny had grown up tending to their own gardens, so they were able to easily locate and dig up the onions and started chopping off some rhubarb.

"I'll be right back, if you get back to the shed before me, start digging a hole near the middle for the fire," Jason ordered before heading out to hunt down some meat.

"Kind of bossy, isn't he?" Charlie jokes.

"He seems to know what he's doing."

"Who better to hide from the Militia than the Captain's own son," Charlie said, almost bitterly, she was still miffed that Jason was related to the man that was responsible for killing her Father.

"He won't be able to ever go back to his family… What's he going to do?"

Charlie had been breaking up the dirt around the onions with an old butter knife from the house, but stopped for a moment to look at her brother, "I don't know…"

"He seems to think a lot about you."

Charlie went back to shoving the butter knife in the ground again.

They work in silence again. After they had dug up a few onions, Charlie pressed the earth they had disturbed flat again. She looked up at Danny, who was watching her.

"Don't want anyone to be able to tell someone was digging here."

They gathered up the rhubarb and onions and carried them back to the shed.

Danny used the rusted shovel to dig a hole in the middle of the shed, the metal blade was dull but still capable of digging the dirt that covered the shed floor.

Charlie found a flat rock that she rubbed clean as best she could before peeling and chopping the onions into large pieces.

Jason came back and was holding three rabbits by their ears.

"Found a large log back there," He motioned with his head, "Can you help me carry it?" The question was directed at Danny, who quickly said he could.

Jason looked at Charlie, "You can get the rabbits ready."

"Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I'm going to be in charge of cooking," Charlie said looking at Jason with her eyes narrowed.

Jason held her gaze, "You're the one who said you were hungry. How else do you expect to eat?"

They stare at one another for a second longer before Jason determines the conversation over and turns to walk out, Danny follows behind.

With more force than necessary, Charlie chops the heads off and slices them open. Moving more carefully she removes the brown furry skin from the rabbit, then starts to take out the inedible bits. As she is finishing up with the last rabbit, Jason and Danny return carrying a large decaying tree trunk. The center had been hollowed out by termites and it was easy to break it apart.

Jason got to work building the fire just as rain started hitting the tin roof.

"Wood is good and dry, shouldn't be much smoke. Rain will cover what smoke there is… Wood will burn out fast though."

The onions and rabbits are soon in the skillet sizzling, Danny stirred it every now and then, while Charlie washed the rhubarb off in the rain and chopped it up and added it to the skillet. The sweetness of the rhubarb cooking filled the shed. Jason was busy hanging the string from wall to wall, when it was done he draped his shirt over it and took Charlie's jacket that she had flung over the mower and draped that next to his. Danny added his shirt to the "clothes line". It was close enough to the fire to have the warmth speed up the drying.

Charlie felt slightly resentful of the fact that she was a girl and couldn't just take her shirt off to dry like the guys, she was going to be stuck in her wet clothes all night. Hopefully they'd be a bit dryer by morning.

"Looks done," Danny said and used a towel to lift the skillet away from the flame.

The rain on the tin roof sounded like a drum and they sat silently eating their meal, being careful of the sharp edges of the plates.

Three "beds" were creating by laying out the towels on the ground, Charlie didn't say anything as Jason tossed the blanket towards what would be her bed though she wasn't fond of the special treatment just because she was a girl.

They added a bit more of dry wood to the flames but decided not to add any more after that, there was a slight chill in the air from the rain, but if it stopped raining the light from the fire would attract attention and the small amount of smoke that the fire gave off might get noticed.

"I'll take first watch," Danny said.

Charlie was about to protest, thinking that he needed to rest, but Jason was quick to say, "Alright, Charlie you can take the next watch and I'll take the last."

Jason took his shirt off the string and handed it to Charlie who slowly took it with a questioning look in her eyes.

"You can wear this, and let your clothes dry," He explained.

"You expect me to wear nothing but your shirt?" She asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

"Or sleep in wet clothes," He said with a shrug, "Up to you."

Finally, silently admitting defeat she slipped his shirt over her tank top then she slipped herself out of the tank top and hung it on the clothes line. His shirt hung down to almost mid-thigh and she unbuckled her pants and modestly shed them and secured them on the string.

Jason tried to keep his eyes on anything except Charlie but couldn't help but sneak a peek as she walked back to her spot, the light from the dying fire flickered on her bare legs, the sight of her wearing only his shirt stirred something deep inside him.

Danny was sitting with his back up against the wall, watching Jason, watching as Jason's eyes went to his sister as she hung her clothes. He narrowed his eyes, he didn't know how close his sister and Captain Neville's son were, he could sometimes not even tell if his sister liked him. He decided that he would ask her straight out, what her real thoughts of this Jason Neville guy.

Jason's eyes moved away from Charlie as he felt a strong wave of desire, a desire for her to be his. He looked over at Danny and saw that he had seen him watching Charlie, and he quickly looked away and then laid down and closed his eyes.

Charlie moved around a bit after laying down and covering up. The towels had a dry grainy texture that was almost worse than the dirt, she kept pulling the shirt down as far as it would go, feeling so exposed even under the blanket. She eventually forced herself to stop fidgeting and starting using rhythmic breathing to lull herself to sleep.

Danny woke Charlie up with a small nudge a few hours later. Danny took his shirt off the line and pulled it on then settled on down on his make-shift bed.

Getting herself repositioned to take watch, she laid the blanket over her bare legs as she sat cross legged. She heard Danny's breathing regulate, inhale and exhale. It seems like such a small thing to hear someone inhale and exhale, but for her, Danny's breathing was of such importance, listening to it was comforting, letting her know that he was alright.

About an hour into her watch, the fire had long since gone out, she noticed Danny shivering as he kept trying to adjust the towels that were serving as his blanket.

Charlie quietly got up and covered Danny with the blanket and carefully slipped the towels off of him and carried them back to her spot.

Jason woke as Charlie was carefully walking past, carrying towels to her spot. A slight glance over at Danny told him that she had switched covers with her brother, giving him the warmer. The siblings were so close in age, but Charlie was so gentle with him. A gentleness Jason had only seen from his Mother, before the blackout. After the blackout his Father got very strict and cold and refused to let his Mother "baby him" as his Father put it.

As if Charlie could feel his eyes on her she looked to him, they held each other's gaze for a while, then Jason got up and moved closer to Charlie.

Neither say anything as they sit next to one another, he looks over at her again. Slowly he brings up arm up and around her shoulders. Charlie sits still for a moment, there's an unfamiliarity to the feeling of his arm around her. Despite the many times he had lied to her, he had still saved her life multiple times, and it's because of she allows herself to feel safe in his arms.

Jason could feel Charlie's body relax next to his and he tightened his grasp around her shoulders, pulling them closer together. Eventually she relaxed completely and laid her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and soaked in every second of her in his arms.

"Why do you keep saving me?" Charlie asked quietly.

Jason couldn't help but smirk, "Because you keep needing to be saved."

Charlie lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him, "I'm serious."

"I couldn't let you die, Charlie," He practically whispered.

"But you could lied to me."

She could see her comment had hurt him and she is quick to feel guilty and says, "Sorry."

"I had my orders to bring your Uncle to the Militia," He looked deep into her eyes, "Please understand." He was pleading, she had to understand. Her silence ate away at him, she must hate him… but why is staying next to him then?

"Don't lie to me again," She said holding his gaze steady.

His fear of rejection was quickly dissipating, and he promised her, "I won't." Then he raised an eye brow, "Don't ever chain or cuff me to a pole again."

"I won't," Charlie said, a small smile played on her lips.

He brought his hand up and slowly ran his fingers through her soft hair, then brought his hand to her cheek. Her eyes fluttered close as she leaned into his touch. Jason looked at her long eye lashes lay fanned out across the tops of her cheeks, he sat still admiring them, she opened her eyes and they looked at one another. He sighed and brushed his thumb lightly over her cheek bone, she blushed under his touch and steady gaze.

Charlie turned her gaze forward, "What's the next plan, Jason?" She needed him to tell her that he wasn't going to leave.

He's expression turns serious and thoughtful, "We should head west a bit farther, then we can start heading north to loop around towards Noblesville and see if we can find the others."

"About how many days?"

"Probably three days, depending on the weather."

Charlie was silent for a moment, "Then what are you going to do?"

Jason looked at Charlie, "What do you mean?"

Charlie rolled her eyes, "I mean, what are you going to do after we meet up with Miles, Aaron and Nora?"

Jason looked forward, "I don't know… What are you going to do? Follow Miles and Nora to lead the resistance and kill Monroe?" He said in a near mocking tone.

Charlie gave a defeated sigh, "I just want to go home again."

"That'd be a good way to get caught by the Militia."

"I know… You know this whole time that I've been searching for Danny I always thought that once I found him we'd go home and everything would be as it was before. But, we don't have a home… Miles and Nora will probably head to Philadelphia. Aaron? Well, I guess Aaron could go back home."

"There's time to think about that. Right now let's just focus on the next few days," Jason said, wanting to ease the look of concern on her face. But his comment made her furrow her brow.

"Are you going to leave?"

He closed his eyes as he realized that her true concern had been losing him, a warmth spread through him and he answered, "No. I'll go where you go… you'll need saving at one time or another."

Charlie scoffed indignantly, but smiled at the thought of him always being near.

"You should get some sleep, I'll take over watch."

She silently moved over to her bed, bringing the towels that would serve as her covers.

Jason watched as she fidgeted with the towels, it was a chilly night and she was probably cold. Jason felt the cold as he sat there with his bare chest with nothing but a few grimy towels, but it didn't really bother him, he had endured much colder nights during his training.

Watching Charlie steady her breathing and finding a slow and deep rhythm was enough to put him in a trance, watching her torso raise and fall under the towel. She wasn't asleep long before he noticed her shivering. He immediately grabbed his towels and moved over to her. He carefully laid down next to her on his side and moved to meld there bodies together. Jason closed his eyes as he marveled at the feeling of her body pressed to his, her body was so soft and he felt it molding it his, and a sense of completeness filled him. He could tell by the way her breathing changed that she was awake. Awake and not moving, Jason silently prayed that she would let him hold her like this, in this intimate position.

Charlie woke as she felt Jason lay his body behind hers. She kept very still, unsure of what to do. As he brought his arm around her waist and brought his body closer to hers, she felt her heart pounding in her chest. Warmth was radiating off of him and she felt the chill slowly leave her body. Jason's heart beat was steady on her back and she found herself relaxing at the feeling of it.

Jason felt her body release its tension, he brought his lips to her ear and whispered, "Go to sleep."

The minutes slipped by and her heard her breathing regulate and felt her body relax completely as she found sleep. He stayed awake, keeping his ears alert for any sounds in the night. The rain had let up and a heavy fog had taken its place. He formed a plan for the next day, they could gather what food they could from the garden, then start walking west. If the fog didn't lift it would make it hard for them to travel, but it would also slow the Militia down, some. The rain that had plagued the night will have washed away any tracks they left, but it would also make the ground soft making it near impossible not to leave new tracks. If only he could convince Charlie not to go back to Noblesville, even if the train and his Father did continue on to Philadelphia, there would still be a crowd of Militia near. His ideal plan would be to head south and start over, his heart softened as he thought of a life with Charlie. A life where he got to sleep next to her every night, a life away from the Militia. He forced his mind away from those thoughts and tried to concentrate on the present, Charlie would refuse to leave without finding the others, so that was what they had to do. He vaguely wondered what they were thinking, did Miles think that Charlie had been captured or killed? Jason's arm tightened slightly around Charlie's waist at the thought of how that had almost happened. Would Miles, Nora and Aaron still even been in Noblesville, or would they have moved on after Charlie didn't return. What if they were already moving towards Philadelphia? Thinking that they needed to rescue Charlie and Danny. Silently cursing at the complicatedness of their situation he started to form a new plan.

**A/N: Oh when, oh when will they have their kiss... sigh. I guess they ****_have_**** had quite a bit else going on.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! It's great to know that people like this story. **

As dawn neared the fog was getting denser instead of letting up, and it looked like it could start raining again. Trying not to disturb Charlie, Jason rose and tucked the towels securely around her. He broke up some more of the dried wood and started another fire, the heavy fog would hide any smoke. He grabbed his bow and slung his quiver of arrows over his back. His mind played back on the conversation he had with Charlie a few hours ago, she had been worried about him leaving. Jason's heart felt a little lighter at the thought of her wanting him to stay with her. He knew that it had been a hell of a pill to swallow for her, learning that his Father was the man that she held responsible for her Father's death, but still… she wanted him to stay. He took one arrow and placed it by Charlie, hoping that she'd get the message that he had gone hunting and would be back… Like he could go too far, she still had his shirt, a smile tugged at his lips as the thought of how his shirt would have her scent on it. He stepped out carefully and quietly and made his way into the trees, he didn't stray too far from the shed and kept a watchful eye and ear out.

Charlie opened her eyes and saw that the fire was burning, the wood was almost completely burnt out. Charlie could tell that Jason wasn't behind her any more, she lifted her head and saw Danny still sleeping on the other side of the fire, she felt a slight panic when she saw that Jason was gone. Her eyes fell on the arrow that had been laid in front of her. Had he left? Surely he'd be back? Why'd he leave the arrow? She thought for a moment, trying to decipher his cryptic message, hoping that he hadn't left. She started getting ready to get up, but before she could un wrap herself from the towels she heard voices, quiet voices of people approaching. She grabbed the arrow and hid it underneath the towel that was covering her torso, she closed her eyes and feigned sleep. As the voices got right outside she could hear them, whispering to themselves.

"Sleeping," A gruff man's voice said quietly, "Stupid kids."

"Reckon they have anything?" Another man's voice said.

Jason was crouched down behind a spruce watching as the two men approached the shed. An arrow was already strung in his bow. The men had been so absorbed with sneaking up to the shed that they did hear or see Jason stalking after them, he was only ten feet away as they formed their plan.

"Pretty little thing." He heard one of the men say. Jason grinded his teeth together and forced himself to stay calm and focused as he took aim. Both the men were armed, each had a hunting knife in their hand. He kept the larger of the two men in his sight and aim, he seemed to be the one telling the other what to do. He aimed for the guys chest and let his arrow fly. His partner stood dumbfounded for a second, watching his partner fall forward slightly, an arrow protruding from his chest. It's not until it's too late that his partner looks in the direction that the arrow had come from, a second arrow is already flying right for him and lodges in his neck. He sputters for a while, Jason approaches him and yanks the arrows out. The blood flows from his wound as he gasps for air. Jason watches with cold eyes, watching the man who wanted to hurt his Charlie drown in his own blood. He takes the man's head in his hands and with a quick jerk the man's neck in broken and the sputtering stops. Jason looks up and sees Charlie and Danny standing, Charlie had the arrow clutched in her hands and Danny was holding the knife they had used for cooking the night before.

They stood in silence for a moment, then Danny asked, "How many people have you killed?"

Jason narrowed his eyes and tightened his jaw; did Danny think that he liked killing people?

"A simple thank you would do just fine, you know, it's not like these guys weren't going to show either of you any mercy," Jason said as he stepped over the two dead bodies. He put the rabbit and the squirrel that he had caught down and turned to face Danny, "They were going to kill you without a second thought, and do you know what they would have done to your sister," his voice had a deep growl to it as he thought of the sick things that could've happened to his Charlie.

"We'll have to do something with their bodies," Charlie said, not wanting to think about what could have happened, she surprised herself with how steady her voice was, "We can carry them into the house and hide them in a closet or something."

Jason walked over and grabbed a hold of one of the men under his arms and hoisted him up.

"Grab the feet," He said to Danny. Danny silently moved over and grabbed the guys feet. They carefully made their way back to the house.

"There was a closet in the back bedroom, that'll be the best place," Jason told him.

"What do you think his story was?" Danny asked as he set his legs down on the closet floor. Jason dropped his load and the man fell forward hunched over unnaturally. It sickened Danny how Jason could treat the body with no respect. No matter what these men had planned to do to them, they were still people.

"They hurt, kill and rob people, Danny," Jason say, looking his square in the eyes, "They were not good people. Thieves and murderers."

"I wonder what he did before," Danny thought aloud, meaning before the blackout.

"Well next time someone wants to kill us, I can try to hold off saving your skin until after you ask for their life story."

"Don't you care?" Danny asked, his brow furrowed, "This was someone's son, maybe a husband or a Father."

"You can't show weakness, Danny," Jason said, reminding himself of his Father, his jaw tightened at the memory of his Father telling him something similar, "Weakness will only get you killed."

"That sounded like it was straight out of the Captain's mouth."

Jason flashed him a hard glare, before brushing past him and walking back to the shed. He knew that both Danny and Charlie had good reason to hate his Father, Tom Neville could be ruthless and seem cold, he was the one that came into their town and broke their world apart. But, Jason and his Mother had survived because of him and he had been a good man before the blackout, he had only wanted him and his family to survive. But Jason had made his decision as to what was more important to him, the moment he saw his Father hurting Charlie, it had been her that was more important, he just hoped that she could see that, and not focus on who his Father was.

Him and Danny carried the second man and put him right by the other.

Before Jason could walk back outside Danny said, "Look. I know you have the hots, or whatever, for my sister, I know I don't have the whole history between you two, but let me tell you this," Danny stepped close to Jason and looked him square in the eyes, "If you hurt her. I_ will_ kill you." The fierce protectiveness that was behind Danny's eyes surprised Jason.

"I won't," Jason promised.

Danny and Jason had a stare off for a few moments until Danny said firmly, "Good." Then looked away and walked out.

A light drizzle started coming down as Danny and Jason made their way back to the shed. Jason washed his bloody hands off in a puddle, his mind drifted back to his first kill, he had been 11, they were walking to Philadelphia because his Father had heard that the Monroe Militia was looking for soldiers. His Father had gone to barter food from a small farmhouse when two men attacked him and his Mother. It had been in self defense when he stabbed both men with the long knife his Father had left him, but that didn't erase the image from his memory of the men bleeding to death, or make him forget the resistance their bodies had given as the knife plunged into them. His Father had returned to the bloody scene with Jason standing still shocked in the middle of it, he had grabbed both of Jason's shoulders and bent down to his eye level and said, "You did good, Jason. These men were bad people." No matter what his Father said it didn't change the fact that his Mother looked at him differently ever since.

When the got back to the shed Charlie had changed out of his shirt and back into her clothes. Jason took his shirt off the string where she had placed it and pulled it over his head, as the fabric slipped past his nose he inhaled and could smell her.

They cooked and ate their breakfast in silence. Once they were finished they started cleaning up, doing their best to erase all evidence that they were there. The fire pit was covered back up and patted down firmly, dishes rinsed in the rain and put back in the house along with the skillet and silverware. Jason wound the string back up and put it in his pack. The remains of the animals were scattered in the trees, and the rain was slowly washing the evidence of blood away from the shed door.

"We should try to get more food from the garden before we go," Jason said. They dug up and chopped off some more, careful not to leave a trace. The drizzle picked up into a steady rain and all three were quickly feeling chilled.

"Let's get moving," Jason said, sitting still will only make them feel colder, "We'll head north then head east."

"I thought we were going to head farther west?" Charlie asked.

"We'll want to try to find your group," Jason explained, "If we don't get there then they might assume that you're both captured and might try to go and rescue you."

Charlie looked off in the distance thinking, trying to put herself in Miles's place. Surely when she didn't show he'd wait for a bit. Or maybe he didn't care, and he was off with Nora helping her blow more things up. Aaron wouldn't give up on them, he'd either stay put and wait or else try to rally Miles and Nora into a rescue mission.

"How long do you think they'd wait before setting off?" She asked.

Jason shrugged, "I don't know."

"If they aren't in Noblesville… What'll we do?" Danny asked.

A few more moments of silence while everyone thought of the possibilities, though everyone knew what they would have to do.

"We'd have to go after them if they did go to Philadelphia," Charlie said.

"Let's get going and hopefully we can head them off if they are heading there," Jason said and they started walking through the rain.

The grassy hills were slick and each of them had slipped a few times. Jason kept them moving at a steady pace despite the rain.

"We want to get as much distance as we can with it raining, since the rain will help erase our tracks," Jason explained to them, though neither had complained.

After walking for what seemed like hours, they took a short break. Danny went down a small bank to a stream to refill their water and Charlie immediately sat down by an oak tree and leaned her back against it with a small groan. Her muscles were cold and stiff and she had lost count of how many times she fallen today and her leg muscles were throbbing. Jason crouched down next to her, sympathy in his eyes, which Charlie slightly resented.

"Are you doing OK?"

"I'm fine." She didn't want to be pitied because she was a girl.

"Just a bit farther and then we can rest-" Jason said gently.

"Jason," Charlie said firmly, "We need to keep going. The longer it takes us to get to the old camp, the farther Miles, Aaron and Nora could be… I am fine. I'm ready to go whenever you are."

Jason sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Don't get too comfortable," Charlie said as she nudged him.

He opened his eye and looked over at her and gave her a smile which caused her to blush and away. Jason kept his eyes on her even after she looked away, he had never met a girl like her before, there was something so disarmingly innocent about her but she was so strong as a person.

She kept her gaze down until he placed his hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes at his touch and then looked up to meet his gaze. Their touching seemed even more intimate than it had been last night, the daylight and cold rain made it seem more real. He leaned towards her a little and paused, giving her a chance to pull away, he saw her head give a slight tilt towards his and that acted like a trigger and he quickly captured her lips with his. The feeling of her soft and plump lips under his sent a spark through his body, he tangled his hand in her hair, holding her to him, but she wasn't trying to pull away. Instead of pulling away she lifted her chin slightly and started moving her lips with his, he felt her hand go to the back of his neck and he instantly wrapped his arm around her waist and was filled with a desire for more. He opened his mouth slightly and grazed her lower lip with his tongue, he heard her give a small gasp and she was just starting to open her mouth a little, when he heard a muffled grunt and the sound of metal on metal. He pulled away quickly, Charlie had heard the sound also and they both looked in the direction it came from.

"Danny," Charlie breathed and jumped to her feet and hurried in the direction Danny had gone. Jason was right on her heels as they reached the top of the bank and sprang down with his sword in one hand and knife in the other. Four Militia soldiers were positioned around Danny who was doing his best to defend himself by blocking the blows from their swords with the cross bow. Jason sliced his sword across the belly of the first soldier he met while driving his knife into the soldiers right arm, before the man had hit the ground, clutching his stomach as if to hold himself together, Jason had already moved towards the next who was just turning to face him. One soldier remained focused on Danny while the others decided that Jason was a bigger threat and turned to him. Charlie jumped down the bank, joining the fray as Jason's sword went slicing ough the air slicing into one of the soldiers, blood splattered onto Jason's clothes and face as the wounded soldier fell to the ground, Jason kicking the soldier's sword away from him as it fell from his hand in the direction of Danny, who was on the ground using his cross bow as a shield. Danny reached out to grab the sword and then turned to protect himself from the soldier who still had him in his focus, just as Charlie came from behind and stabbed him, aiming for the heart, but missing and hitting near the armpit instead. Using his unwounded shoulder the soldier shoved her to the ground, Charlie flipped on to her back and looked up just as a sword was coming down and managed to roll out of the way just in time, as the sword hit the ground she felt a tug on her head, then felt the soldier fall on top of her. Panic struck her as she tried to scramble out from under him, but he wasn't attacking her, he was dead, Danny had stuck him through the back with the sword he had retrieved. Charlie got to her feet and hurried away from the dead soldier and looked over as the remaining soldier fell under Jason's knife. Leaving the three survivors to stand there. Jason's eyes went right to Charlie and saw her standing unhurt, relief flooded him. She was still recovering from the shock and he wanted to hold and comfort her, but he set to work, stripping the soldiers of any materials that could be useful to them, all four had small packs that were standard for the Monroe Militia, containing an extra pair of socks, a thin but warm blanket, a water skin, packet of jerky and a container of nuts and dried berries. Two Swiss army knives were also found on the soldiers as Jason stripped the jackets off three soldiers, one had a hole in the back from a sword and they both had blood on them.

"Charlie," Danny said and pointed to the ground close to where she had fallen. She looked over to what had caught his attention, she stared for a moment before realizing what she was looking at. With a slightly shaking hand she felt the right side of her head, a chunk of her hair had been cut off only an inch or two from her right ear.

"Close call," Danny said and Charlie nodded numbly, her brain rejecting the thought that she had been a few inches away from death. She stood there blankly while Danny knelt down to help Jason organize the packs that they were going to take.

Jason looked over at Danny as the boy helped him. Having that boy with them was like walking around with a constant target, if Danny hadn't gotten off the train then him and Charlie wouldn't have to worry about this man-hunt that was going on.

Jason crammed the last bit into the packs before tossing it to Danny.

"What'd they say to you?" He asked him.

Danny looked up, "Asked my name."

Jason fought hard not to roll him eyes, thinking, "If this kid gave his real name he deserves to die."

"I said Aaron Pittman," Danny finished, "First name I thought of. But they said that I fit the description of someone and they had to take me in. I refused."

"Well, we'll have to cover them up," Jason said standing up.

"Should we bury them?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, sure grab a shovel, I'll prepare the eulogy," Jason said sarcastically, feeling a lot of resentment towards the boy, this boy that the Militia was searching for.

Ignoring Jason's comment, Danny asked, "Do you think others are close?"

"They probably split up a squad and divided the territory up, they were probably a few miles from the next group," Jason told them, it was a guess, an educated guess, but still a guess, "These guys were probably on the outskirts of the search territory, the large groups and the hound dogs are probably close to where we jumped." While he was talking he looked around, the ground was soft and there were several fallen trees.

Jason gave directions and the other two followed, carrying the bodies to a large fallen tree. They made quick work with covering them with a mixture of mud, leaves and sticks, trying to make it look natural.

Danny held back a comment of this being the second time they've had to hide dead bodies in one day, he knew that Jason wouldn't respond well. He watched Jason as he approached his sister, his right hand went to the side of her head, and touched the hair that was now shorter.

Jason heart had stopped when he saw the sword coming down on Charlie as she lay there, now he looked at the evidence that he had almost lost her. He reached up and touched her hair and looked into her eyes. She looked back and held his gaze.

"Y-You've got blood on your face," She said with a slightly shaking voice, then with her sleeve gently wiped his cheek clean.

"You should've stayed away," He said. Her head jerked away, maybe trying to get his hand, that was now resting on her jaw, off of her, but he kept his hand in place and she didn't try again but said, "I had to. I am not just going to sit back and watch."

Neither Jason nor Charlie noticed Danny as he took a few steps away and busied himself with adjusting his pack.

"I need to protect you," Jason said firmly, she needed to understand that, he didn't understand why she wouldn't let him. His Father had, since the blackout, always be the protector of the family and his Mother had understood, that's what a man needs to do.

"That's fine," Charlie said, and for a split second Jason thought he had gotten through to her, but then realized she wouldn't give up that easy. Sure enough she continued, "But I need to protect Danny."

Danny. Jason clenched his jaw at the thought that he had almost lost her because of him. He knew they were close, but damnit, the boy needs to take care of himself.

Jason brought his other hand up to her face, cupping both sides with his hands and looking into her eyes, "Please," He begged, "I cannot lose you."

Charlie listened to him, she felt flattered that he wanted to protect her so bad, but frustrated that he just didn't understand, she couldn't just sit there.

"Jason," She said in a low voice, "I'm fine." She reached up on tiptoe and gave him a kiss. She had meant it to be just a peck, but the moment her lips touched his, his hands left her jaw and his arms wrapped around her, pressing his body to hers. She slowly brought her arms up and around his neck. His hands ran up her back, his touch giving her goose-bumps under her wet shirt.

"Is this really the best time for that?" Danny asked.

Charlie pulled away and Jason mentally sent a slew of curse words at Danny. Taking a deep breath they grabbed their packs and jackets and set off, Jason thinking bitterly, "If I wasn't in love with his sister I'd send him straight back to the train." He knew Charlie would hate him forever if he did anything to harm her brother. He noticed the rain was slowly down to a soft drizzle, then it hit him what he had just thought, "I am in love with Charlie". It seemed so obvious now, of course he was in love with her, he'd never been in love before, but knew that his feelings for Charlie went well beyond a crush or an infatuation, it was love.


	4. Chapter 4

As the rain slowed down, they had no choice but to hurry along and hope that the tracks that they would leave would go unnoticed. It was either that or find a good hiding spot and risk the Militia finding them when the four soldiers they had killed didn't report in, and there chances of finding Miles, Nora and Aaron would be even slimmer than they are now.

They reached the train tracks an hour or two before night fall, they went about a mile north of the tracks before turning east, Jason estimated that the old camp was about four hours to the east of them. Darkness fell slowly around them as they made their way east, cautiously crossing any roads they happened upon and giving wide births around any houses they saw. All three were wet with a chill running through them, the jackets of the soldiers helped, though it was hard to shake the unsettling feeling that came with wearing something that the previous owner had died in, at least the rain had washed some of the blood off.

Jason was careful to stay close to Charlie, shielding her from any dangers that lurk in the darkness. Deciding that a few minutes break was needed. Danny leaned up against a tree and closed his eyes, exhaustion flooded him. Charlie sat on a fallen log and rested her head in her hands. She felt Jason sit next to her.

"I don't think I'll ever be dry again," Charlie couldn't help but complain, "Or warm."

Jason couldn't think of anything to say, so he put his arm around her and stayed silent.

Charlie leaned towards him and he held her tighter, they stayed silent for a short while. Then Charlie lifted her head from her hands and looked at him, "Thank you… Thank you for saving us from the train, for helping us-"

Jason cut her off, "You don't need to thank me, Charlie."

"No, without you…" Charlie trailed off, they had only been together for a day and a half and he had already saved their life twice, three times including the train.

Hearing her appreciation for him, warmed Jason to the core. He leaned down and gave her a long tender kiss, he pulled back and rested his forehead to hers, "You'll never be without me, Charlie." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and stood up and offered Charlie his hand to stand up with him, "Come on, just another hour and we should be close to the camp. We can rest when we get there."

"What if they aren't there?" Charlie asked taking his hand.

"We'll have to wait for morning to follow their tracks, so we'll be resting either way." Jason kept his hand wrapped around Charlie's for a moment longer before releasing it as they started walking.

A faint flicker in the darkness caught the travelers' attention. The glow from a fire got closer and closer, they kept quiet and out of sight as they neared it. They could hear people talking, Jason motioned for Danny and Charlie to stop, he pointed to a large bush for them to crouch behind.

They surveyed what the darkness would allow them to see. Three figures were sitting around the flame, but it wasn't until they heard Aaron speak that they knew it was them.

"Charlie!" Aaron gasped as Charlie walked into the ring of light created by the fire, he stood and instantly looked behind her expectantly, Danny came into view, "Danny, are you alright?"

"Fine," Danny said simply. No one seemed surprised to see Danny, pleased, but not surprised. Miles said that word had been spread that the Militia's prisoner had escaped and that they had been searching the whole area.

"Had a few run ins with them," Miles said.

Jason stepped into view also and Miles immediately drew his sword and it was only Charlie throwing herself between Jason and her Uncle that stopped Miles from attacking.

"He saved us, Miles. He knocked out Neville, that's how we were able to get off the train."

Miles gave Jason a calculating stare, "He's a spy."

"No," Charlie said firmly, then sent a look back at Jason, "Not anymore."

"Don't be so naïve, there is always an ulterior motive," Miles said and took a step closer, his eyes focused on Jason, who stared right back, "I don't trust you one bit."

"You think I care?" Jason moved forward, staring at Miles.

"Stop it!" Charlie let out an irritated groan, "Just stop! Miles, he saved us OK."

"He's Neville's son," Miles said pointing an accusing finger at Jason.

Charlie looks surprised, "You knew?"

"I recognized him in Chicago… Tried to trade you for Danny back in Noblesville; your Daddy didn't even blink an eye when I said I would kill you."

Jason couldn't help but scoff, "He knew I'd escape, from an old drunk like you."

"Hey," Charlie said and spun around to face Jason. The look she gave him helped quiet and control some of the rage that had started to build up.

Charlie gave a brief recount of what had happened, keeping herself between Miles and Jason the whole time. Miles still had his sword clutched in his hand.

"You could've just helped us before the train took off, and it would've saved us a lot of trouble."

"I'm sorry if my timing inconvenienced you, but I did save your niece and nephew… something you were unable to do," Jason couldn't help but add that last bit.

Miles's eyes flamed in anger, Charlie turned and practically pushed Jason away from the group.

Before Charlie could start scolding or talking, Jason said, "I'm not going to stand there and let him talk to me like that, Charlie." He was not one to be pushed around by anyone. Jason kept his gaze on Miles who continued to stare at him.

Charlie looked up at him, he was still having a stare off with Miles. She placed her hand on Jason's elbow; feeling her touch, he immediately brought his attention to her.

"I don't want you two at each other's throats, there's enough going on already."

Jason brushed some hair away from her face, he kept his eyes on her but didn't respond. Charlie looked at him with pleading eyes, "Please… I'm not saying you have to be friends with him, but can you just try to get along… or at least not kill each other? Miles helped get us out of a lot of sticky situations."

"No, you were put in a lot of stick situations because of him, and he happened to be able to get you out," Jason countered.

"Please, Jason," Charlie said quietly. Jason could hear the exhaustion in her voice and caused him to soften to her, he reached over and took one of her hands in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Miles kept his gaze on Jason and Charlie. He didn't like it. Miles turned to Danny, the kid looked a lot like Ben – except for his hair, both his niece and nephew had their Mother's blonde hair.

"What's the real story here?" He demanded.

"It's just as Charlie said," Danny said, "He knocked the Captain out and got us off the train."

"And why would he do that?! He had already made his decision as to which side he was on when he refused to help us in Noblesville."

"He likes Charlie."

"Save me your teenaged angst shit," Miles snapped, he could tell days ago that Charlie had developed a crush on Neville's son, but he had been using her. Playing off her naïvetés to find and capture him.

"The Captain would've killed her if he hadn't come in," Danny said looking at his Uncle. His Father had talked about him some, mainly about how lethal he could be. "I trust him," Danny finished.

"Oh, you trust him… Well OK then, let's just welcome him into our merry bunch of misfits," Miles said sarcastically. He looked over at the couple.

"You don't think that someone can change because of a girl?" Nora asked, joining in the conversation.

Miles looked at her, he knew the point she was making. "Damnit," He murmured under his breath. Then called towards Charlie and Jason, "Are you two done pawing at each other yet? We've got to get some distance put in before dawn."

"Can't we rest?" Danny asked.

"Sure, you can stay here and sleep and wait for the Militia to come kill or capture you. I'm going to head out though," Miles said.

"A simple No would've been fine," Danny grumbled.

Charlie and Jason re-joined the group and nothing more was said. Aaron handed Charlie her pack that she had left before jumping on the train, she emptied the pack they had taken from the dead soldiers and put everything into hers. Jason took the empty pack from her and slung it over his shoulder, "We can use it as a game bag," He told her.

"I can carry it," Charlie said, if she hadn't been so tired there would have been a touch of amusement in her voice at the thought of Jason thinking that an extra empty pack was too much for her.

Jason just shook his head and gave her a small smile.

"What's the plan?" Charlie asked Miles.

"Right now, we need to get away from here. We'll head north a ways, and find a spot with good cover. Then we can lay out the plans for everyone," Miles said.

They walked for hours, the moon lighting their path. Jason stayed close to Charlie's side, holding her hand to help her up any steep hills. Danny stayed close to Aaron, they quietly talked about what had happened. Charlie had told Danny a summary of what had happened during their travels, including what had happened to Maggie, but she didn't like to discuss her death. Aaron gave him the details that Charlie still felt to guilty to talk about. Danny had been close to Maggie, opened up to her more than Charlie, it helped to talk to someone about her.

They found a secure spot to rest about an hour before dawn, a good distance from any roads and with lots of hills and trees surrounding them; it was as good a place as any.

Jason sat down and watched Charlie, rather unabashedly, as she pulled out the blankets from her pack, both her old one and the one from the dead soldier. She kicked off her shoes and set them facing the fire so they could finish drying from their rainy trek, and then slipped herself out of the soldier's jacket and her own. The memory of seeing her in just his shirt came to Jason's mind, he felt such a longing to go and lay next to her. But he felt her Uncle's eyes on him, he'd probably get a knife pulled on him if he tried anything. Jason set up his blanket a few feet away, close enough to watch over her, but far enough to be "respectable".

They set up 2 hour shifts to keep watch, with Charlie, Jason and Danny picking up the last shifts since they were more travel worn.

The tension in the group dissipated some with a good rest, but hard glares were still shot back and forth between Jason and Miles. They talked over possible plans, Miles felt the need to go to Philadelphia and confront Monroe and Nora was eager for a chance to kill more soldiers of the Republic.

Rather suddenly, Jason stood up from where he had been seated, "I'm going to look for some water." He sent a glance towards Charlie who quickly stood up and offered to help.

"Don't go too far, we won't be staying long and I don't want to have to come and look for you," Miles called after them.

Jason and Charlie walked side by side. Charlie tilted her head back so the sun shined on her face, "It's good to be warm and dry again."

Jason smiled at her simple appreciation for the sunshine. They walked in silence for a bit longer before Jason asked, "What is it you want to do next?" He prayed that she didn't want to go with her Uncle to Phili.

Charlie was silent for a moment before answering, "I just want to go back home."

Jason didn't say anything, she knew that they couldn't go back to her old town. He waited for her to continue.

"I guess, just try to start over somewhere… Aaron could go home, but he might want to come with us," Charlie stopped walking and looked over at Jason, "What are your thoughts?"

"I'll go with you," He said automatically.

She smiled a little, he had already told her that but it still made her stomach feel fluttery, "Yes, but where do you think would be best?"

Jason thought for a moment, "I want to get out of the Republic… I don't know if it's safer or better anywhere else, but at least we'd be able to get away from Monroe's soldiers."

"How far away in the border?"

"South, probably over a hundred miles," Jason thought for a moment, bringing up the image of the map of the Republic in his mind, "Maybe about the same distance to the east."

"Which one is safer?" Charlie asked, the only knowledge she had was from looking at old maps of the old United States, and knew nothing about the boarders of the Monroe Republic or about the lands that lay outside of it.

Jason didn't have an answer for her, he motioned for them to keep walking and he told Charlie what he could about the Plains Nation and the Georgia Federation, from what he had learned from his Father and training.

"The Plains Nation border might be easier to cross, as long as we stay away from rivers and the old interstates. There's a large river on the boarder that we'd have to cross-" Jason started thinking aloud.

"Shh," Charlie said, cutting across him. Jason's hand went to his sword hilt as he stopped and listened, he looked around, seeing nothing he looked at Charlie. She was listening intently then her head turned to the left, "Water."

Jason relaxed and followed Charlie as she started walking left. It was a few more yards before he could hear what Charlie had heard, the soft sound of a river.

The recent rains had flooded the stream that they had heard, water running over the banks. Before leaving the shelter of the trees they both looked carefully around for anyone else looking for water, hearing and seeing no one, they ventured closer and collected their water.

The sight of the fresh and clean water made Charlie long to be clean. The rain water had washed off any visible blood from the soldiers, but she could still feel it on her skin, the thought of it made her shudder slightly. She knelt down next to the water's edge and splashed some water onto her face, the cold water that had plagued her yesterday, now felt light and refreshing in the sun. She shrugged her jacket off and hung it on a low branch, she knelt back down and could tell Jason was watching her. She looked over her shoulder, he was standing there holding their water supply just looking at her.

"Sorry, that's all that's coming off."

He gave a little laugh, she had said that on their first day off the train. He then slipped his shirt off and came to kneel down next to her.

She tried to appear indifferent to his sculpted muscles as she washed her arms off. She swept her hair all over to one side and rubbed water on the back of her neck.

Jason dunked his shirt in the water and did his best to wash it out, then he wrung it over his neck and head a few times. He was just getting ready to offer it to Charlie when he got hit with a wave of water. He blinked twice and rubbed the excess water away from his eyes. He could hear Charlie laughing, he looked at her in disbelief. She was still laughing like a child. It was a delightful sound, he had never heard her really laugh before. He put his arm in the water and sent a huge splash at her, Charlie's hair plastered down her face and she sent another splash at Jason. He let her have the last say in their game and reached over and pushed her wet hair away from her face and cupped both his hands on her jaw and brought his mouth to hers. As they moved closer together Charlie brought her hands up to his shoulders to steady herself, as her hands touched his bare skin she pulled away slightly with a little gasp. Their current situation hit her, they were quite alone, he was half naked and kissing her. Her hands stayed on his shoulders as he looked into her eyes.

Her touch stirred a strong desire deep within him, he felt so absorbed in this girl. Aside from his training for the Militia, he had never thrown himself so completely into something, with the training it was to be the best soldier to please his Father, but with Charlie it felt more like this was what he was supposed to do, being with her and protecting her was the reason he was put on this earth. He brought his lips to hers in a soft and tender kiss, the dangerous world around them disappeared as they both were focused on the other's lips, for that moment nothing else mattered.

A good while later Charlie and Jason returned to the camp with the water, Jason had the foresight to put his shirt back on, it clung wet to his torso, Charlie's lips looked extra plump and thoroughly kissed. Miles gave them both a scowl.

"Well now that you both are back from… collecting water, we can get back to arranging the plans," Miles said, "Any of you want to join us for Phili?"

Charlie shook her head, she looked at Danny, "I just want to start over… Find somewhere quiet."

"You want to? Or he does?" Miles asked gesturing at Jason.

"I already told her, I'll go where ever she goes," Jason said.

"Yes, we all know you're a stalker."

Jason started to make a retort but Charlie silenced him by laying a gentle hand on his forearm. She looked at Danny, "We can get out of the Republic."

Miles scoffed, "You think it's better somewhere else? It's not, it's all the same."

"You don't know that, Miles. The Prairie Nation could be better, or the Georgia Federation."

"The Georgia Federation is worse, their head honcho is a blood hungry power obsessed hick," Miles was quick to say.

"Well, what about the Prairie Nation?"

Miles shrugged, "I dunno," He admitted.

"So it could be better."

"Well," Miles said, "You can send me a postcard and tell me all about it when you get there."

"The Prairie Nation won't accept citizens of the Republic and will probably hang any soldiers," Nora said and gave Jason a long look.

"We'll just have to blend in then," Charlie said.

"Hey, it's your life, your choice how you end it," Miles said and started packing up his pack.

"Danny?" Charlie asked, Jason could see the pleading in her eyes, "What do you think?"

He thought for a moment before answering, "I think that if there is a chance at a better life then it'd be worth the risk. We can't go home, we can't even stay in the Republic with out being hunted, might as well see what else lies out there… Aaron?"

"I think I'll go to Philadelphia," He said, rather slowly.

The whole group was in shock, Aaron was going on the crazy mission Miles and Nora had planned?

"A-Are you sure, Aaron?" Charlie asked.

"Yes," He said, gaining more confidence, "I think I am supposed to go there." With the same assurance he had when he decided to go with Charlie and Maggie to go after Danny, he had known that it was the right thing to do, and he knows that this is the right thing to do now.

"Well we can use all the man power we can get," Nora said

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Miles said, not hiding his annoyance. His pack was already on his back, he gave Aaron a pointed stare, telling him to get his stuff together so they could go.

Aaron turned to face Charlie and Danny, who were still looking at him in disbelief.

"We got Danny back," Aaron started, "But now there is something else that needs to be done."

"What, Aaron? The only thing left to do is survive," Charlie told him, "Stay with us."

Aaron shook his head no and stayed resolute with his decision.

"We'll head straight west," Charlie said to the Philadelphia bound group, "If you ever want to look for us," Her voice fell a little flat at the end. She can't help but feel a little abandoned, but Aaron was right, the reason the group was together was to get Danny, and she was 21 and Danny was 18, they weren't children any more.

"Yep," Miles said in an almost bored tone, "We'll be sure to look you up if we're ever in the Prairie Nation."

They finished saying good byes and prepared to part ways, Miles called to Jason at the last moment.

Jason paused and looked at him for a moment waiting for Miles to say something, Miles made a motion for Jason to come back. When Jason was standing right in front of him, keeping his eye contact.

"Don't do any dick head shit," Miles said and turned and walked away, not looking back. Jason stood there for a moment, Aaron gave him an awkward wave and Nora nodded in his direction. Jason turned and caught back up with Charlie and Danny.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Charlie asked.

"Depends on how fast we go and if we don't have any Militia encounters or set backs," Jason said, "We can make it to the river in about a week, I'd guess. There's an old interstate the goes straight west, we can keep a mile or two off of that till we get close… Then we'll have to see what we have to do to cross the river and the border."

The walked in silence for a while, before Charlie started thinking aloud, "Our best bet would be to offer our help at a farm with harvest season in exchange for a safe place for the winter. Then in the spring we can head off from there."

Jason nods, "We'll have to see how wary they are of strangers." It was more likely than not that they would hold the same amount of wariness as people around here. Around here strangers are only feared and it's rare to find someone willing to help another.

As the other two talked, Danny walked in silence, absorbed with his own thoughts, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was walking away from something, a feeling of leaving something undone.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: On a random note about the show more than this story; So far all the people (Ben and Grace) that have those secret pendents with the flashdrive have been "algebra teachers"... so now I'm just trying to think back if anyone else (that hasn't revealed a pendent) has said they were an algebra teacher. Might be a coincidence but if not I have a new-found respect for my old algebra teacher (and am feeling slightly guilty for mocking her oversized red glasses that took up half her face, not that I'm mocking now, oh jeez 10 years later and I still find it comical, we're supposed to mature with age aren't we?)... Moving on now with my story, **

Danny, Charlie and Jason walked towards the sun as it was setting to the west. They had already decided not to stop for nightfall, it had just been a few hours ago that they said good bye to Miles, Nora and Aaron, and there was a sense of urgency to get as far away from Noblesville as possible. The sun set and they continued in the dark, thankful that it was another cloudless night and the moon helped light their path.

"Just another mile or so and then we can break for the night," Jason told them. Charlie and Danny just nodded, they both felt a sense of loss with Aaron gone, he had been like an Uncle to them since they were kids. It was actually Aaron's absence that they missed more than their real Uncle's.

A small clearing would serve as their camp ground for the night. Charlie took first watch, she propped herself up against a fallen tree and rested her cross bow on her lap. Jason got his blanket laid out close to Charlie, then sat up with her for a bit.

Jason eyed her cross bow, they were powerful and easier to handle than a long bow, but took too long to reload. He made a decision to teach her how to shoot from his long bow, they both also needed lessons with a sword. He reached over and took her hand in his, he knew he needed to get some rest but it was too nice to sit here next to Charlie. The past few days felt so surreal, he had been planning on (and looking forward to) going home and seeing his Mother again, but that plan had taken a drastic turn. Now, he was heading into the unknown with a girl he loved and her brother, it was almost certain that he would never see his Mother or home again. While he did feel a loss for his family, the feeling of Charlie's hand in his helped. He brought her hand up to his lips and gave it a kiss, he looked over at her again, "We're really doing this."

She nodded, then leaned her head on his shoulder, "Do you think we'll really be able to cross?" The river and border sounded frightening, there would be the Monroe Militia on the east side defending their border and on the west side there would be the Prairie Nation's soldiers. No one seemed to really know a lot about the Prairie Nation, maybe they were even crueller than their current Militia, what if they shot foreigners on sight, would they be able to blend in?

Jason could pick up on her fear and released her hand to wrap his arm tightly around her, he kissed the top of her head, "We can do it," He whispered, "I'll protect you."

Charlie closed her eyes at his words, she felt such a comfort from him, such a sense of security, she knew that he would do everything in his power to ensure her safety. They sat melded together for a while longer, then Charlie lifted her head and kissed his cheek, "You should rest."

Jason didn't like to leave her side but he knew he needed to sleep. He gave her a soft goodnight kiss on the lips then looked at her, pleading in his eyes, "Lay by me when your watch is done?" He needed to have her close, needed to have his arms around her, protecting her.

Charlie gave him a small nod and a smile, she remembered the warmth and security in his arms the night before last, she liked that feeling, but it was all so new. She had never met anyone that she was attracted to, after he saved her on the plane she had been amazed by how strong and brave he was and she felt so safe around him. Even still after learning that he was Militia she still felt a pull towards him, a part of her just wanted to be with him but another part was angry that he had lied to her. Tricking him into coming to help her while she played hurt held some satisfaction, she knew he would want to help if she were hurt and she wanted him to feel what it felt like to have your feelings used against you, but those games are behind them now. No more lies between them.

The hours trickled by as Charlie sat awake, Charlie looked up at the stars, they were shining so brightly. She remembered during the first nights after the blackout, her Mom would point out different constellations to her, she tried to remember them; there was the scorpion Scorpius, and Cygnus the swan beside the harp, Lyra. Her eyes raked over the sky, looking for any more familiar but could find none.

She let Danny sleep a little more than they had planned, she gently woke him and he got situated for his watch. Charlie sat next to him, "Are you doing OK?"

Danny looked over at her, "Considering everything?"

She gave him a sad smile, "Yeah."

Danny nodded, "I wonder what is going to happen in Philadelphia."

Charlie thought for a moment, "Nora will probably blow up a few things, Miles will almost get killed a few times, Aaron, I don't know… Maybe Miles will kill Monroe."

"What would it change, someone else would take his place," Danny said, he thought for a moment, "The Captain kept saying how important it was for me to get to Philadelphia… but why? I don't think he even knew himself."

"It doesn't matter, Danny, we're going to get away from it," Charlie said, trying to sound reassuring.

Danny just nodded but didn't say any more. Charlie gave him a quick hug and moved over to her blankets, she knew that Danny was watching her, but she picked up her blankets and moved over to Jason. She quietly and quickly laid her blankets down and took off her shoes and jacket, as she was lowering her self onto the blanket Jason's eyes opened and he held her gaze for a moment, then he held his arm out and she moved closer allowing him to wrap his arm around her.

Danny sat up with his thoughts, there was nothing to do about Philadelphia now, he was heading west, to where there was hopefully some safety.

When his watch ended Danny went to wake Jason. His sister was fast asleep, using Jason's chest as a pillow, both his arms were wrapped around her tight, holding her to him. One small nudge to the shoulder and Jason's eyes snapped open.

Jason carefully moved Charlie, allowing him to stand up.

"Will we be moving at dawn?" Danny asked.

"Probably soon after," Jason said, he looked at Danny for moment, "We should try to get some sword practice in also."

"During our free time," Danny joked.

"Yeah," Jason said with a small laugh.

The sun was just coming over the horizon when Charlie and Danny started waking. After making a breakfast from the food in Charlie's pack plus the nuts, berries and jerky from the soldiers, they packed their stuff back up and continued on.

They walked until a few hours before sundown, they risked lighting a fire and cooked a rabbit they had shot when it ran across their path, once the rabbit was cooked they kicked some dirt over the flames to snuff it out.

Using the time left in the day, Jason started teaching Charlie how to use a long bow. He stood behind her and showed her the proper stance, gently repositioning her shoulders. He placed a hand on her back between her shoulder blades showing her which muscles to hold the tension in as she held the string back.

"Keep the bow steady until the arrow hit's the target," He said, "OK, now you're going to let the string roll off your fingers, they need to release at the same time."

Charlie could feel her back pressed up against him and had to take a slow steady breath to try to relax and focus. She took her aim and let the string roll off her fingers like Jason had said. The arrow grazed past the tree she had been aiming for.

Jason was quick to praise her even though she missed the target.

"I'd do better with out you distracting me," Charlie said with her brow furrowed as she lined up again. She heard Jason chuckle slightly and took a step back, he had been standing right behind her to help with proper stance, ready to use any excuse to be close to her. He watched as took the stance he had taught her, she looked so beautiful when she was concentrating. On her forth try she managed to hit the target and make the arrow stick.

"Good job," Jason said, he looked over at Danny, who had been watching, "You want to try?"

Danny stood up and accepted the bow, he looked over at Jason, "I'd rather you just tell me what to do, I don't need you pressing against me."

Charlie blushed at the reference to the physical closeness that he had integrated into her lesson.

Jason laughed a little, "Agreed."

As the sun started setting they organized the watch schedule, Danny first, then Jason then Charlie. They laid out their blankets, Jason came and laid his out next to Charlie's, he gave her a look, asking for permission, she gave him a small smile and a little nod.

Jason wrapped his arms around Charlie as she lay next to him, he closed his eyes for a moment – loving the feeling of her small soft body against his, would this be how it was from now on? Every night with her in his arms? He squeezed her a little tighter and opened his eyes and looked down at her. Her head resting on his chest, he lifted his head enough to plant a kiss in her honey colored hair. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. His eyes focused on her lips, those lips that he has kissed, his heart rate sped up at the memory of their kisses. Charlie must have been thinking about them too, she slowly moved herself up and brought her lips to his. She had brought one of her hands up to his face while the other rested on his chest. Jason felt his body melting as she lay practically on top of him, kissing him. When she chose to deepen the kiss, it sent a fire through his veins, the only thing he could focus on was her, the gentle touch of her tongue on his, her lips moving with his, her body pressed up against him. He sent a hand up her back and into her hair, she let out a small moan and it took all his will power to keep his hands from wandering to the places they so wanted to go. It was Charlie that pulled back a few delirious moments later, she softly said good night and then settled back down, using him for a pillow. He wrapped his arms around her again, his head still swimming with thoughts of her touch. He did his best to clear his mind and calm his body down enough so he could find sleep.

Danny nudged him awake a few hours later, Charlie had moved so she was basically on top of him again, her legs wrapped around his. He wanted so badly to stay like this, but knew that he couldn't. As carefully as he could he placed Charlie back on the blankets and tucked the blankets around her.

Jason started getting situated to take watch, he looked up to see Danny looking at him, clearly looking like he had something to say. Jason raised an eyebrow, asking what was up. Danny sighed and sat back down next to him.

There was a few more beats of silence before Danny said, "I get that you two mean a lot to each other and I'm fine with you two sleeping by each other… I don't want to have to hear you two making out though, she's my sister… please," Danny looked at Jason with a steady gaze, "Plus, no brother wants to hear a guy moaning his sister's name in their sleep."

"Oh," Jason said, awkwardness set in, "I'm sorry."

Danny just nodded but didn't stand up to go to his bed.

Jason continued, "There's just something about her… I've never met anyone like her, she's so…" He trailed off trying to think of how to describe her.

"It's OK, I get it," Danny said stopping him, he could tell that Jason cared for his sister and he didn't really want the details of his attraction to her. He felt the need to tell Jason more, "Our town was small and there weren't a lot of kids our age there, so there were not a lot of chances to form any type of um, romantic relationships."

Jason nodded, he knew Danny was saying.

"So take it slow," Danny finished. Then he got up and went over to go to sleep.

Jason was left with his thoughts, he would have to show more respect for Danny, she was his sister. If he had a sister and some guy had been moaning over her, he would have punched the guy's lights out. He shut eyes eye's tight, he felt embarrassed that Danny had heard him moaning Charlie's name, he knew he couldn't really control what his dreams were about, but he'd have to at least try not to let that happen again. While Jason sat up for his watch he let his mind daydream over what their new life could be like. He couldn't get much past the thought of getting to hold Charlie every night, his mind was always happy to settle on that. He looked over to where she slept, her honey colored hair was splayed out, he remember the feeling of running his hands through her long hair.

Charlie's eyes flew open, her heart was racing as she took in her surroundings, Jason wasn't with her anymore, she quickly looked over and saw him sitting quietly on watch, then she looked over and saw Danny sleeping. She took a few steady breaths, her nightmare had seemed so real; the Militia had found them and had taken Danny and Jason, Captain Neville was just getting ready to shoot her when she woke up. Charlie stood up and wrapped herself up in a blanket and walked over to sit by Jason.

She leaned up against Jason, who welcomed her into his arms; he kissed the side of her head.

"Couldn't sleep anymore?" He asked, he still had at least an hour left before she needed to take over.

She shook her head, the threat of the Militia was just too close, the vividness of the nightmare was still with her, "It'd be nice to get an early start… I think we should try to walk for most of the day today."

"Don't want to push yourself to hard," He said as he stroked his hand up her arm. He knew that Charlie was tough, not to mention stubborn, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her. She'd been traveling for so long, ever since the day her brother was taken, rarely getting any proper rest, it was alright for him – he had gone through rigorous training to prepare him for long treks. He knew better than to say anything that related to females being more fragile than males (he could just imagine the glare he would get if he ever did say something to that effect), but it was something that had been ingrained in him, men are stronger than women and it's up to a man to look after and take care of a woman. With Charlie, taking care of her was not only something he wanted to do, but also felt such a need to .

"I'll be fine," Charlie said, "I just want to get as far away as we can."

Charlie was ready to go before the sun was up. It was only because she didn't want to wake Danny that she sat and waited. Jason had fallen asleep for a few hours but was now sitting next to her waiting, he tried to keep Charlie sated but she felt a necessity to move and the feeling of idleness didn't sit well with her.

Finally just as the sun was beginning to poke over the horizon, Charlie purposefully picked up a stick and snapped it in half. Danny woke with a start, looked around and then started getting up.

"That was rude, Charlie," Jason said in a mock disapproving tone.

"I waited till dawn didn't I?"

"You could've woken me up earlier if you wanted to," Danny said, he started rolling up his pack as their morning ration of nuts and berries was divided up.

"We should try to hunt some today and save the rest of the supply for later," Jason told them.

They both nodded, as soon as Danny had put the last of his meal in his mouth, Charlie stood up, "Come on, lets go."

Both boys stood up and hurried to follow her, she was already a few yards away, moving at a good pace.

"Where's the fire?" Danny asked.

"She thinks we need to get more miles in today," Jason said after Charlie didn't answer.

For the first half of the day Charlie didn't say much and huffed in annoyance whenever a break was suggested.

Jason finally talked her into a small break to make a fire so they could cook the squirrels they had shot. Once the fire was hot enough they put the squirrels on a spit to cook. Jason sat next to Charlie, "What's going on?"

"We just need to get going, Jason. The longer we take the closer the Militia could be. Who knows where they're looking for us, they could be right on our trail," Charlie tried not to sound hysterical, but wasn't very successful.

"Hey, hey," Jason said and put his arm around her, pulling her close, "We're going to be fine."

"How do you know that? You can't know that for a fact."

Jason didn't say anything, he had never seen this side of Charlie before, she had always seemed so positive, even when up against the horrible obstacles she had faced when looking for her brother. She was probably just reacting to the strain that had been placed on her over these last few weeks. He didn't know that much about her old town, besides that it was small and she had probably been sheltered for most of her life, to go from that to traveling hundreds of miles with the threat of danger always looming, it would be alot to handle.

Charlie let find comfort in Jason's arms, she didn't want to tell him about last night nightmare, partly because it would almost feeling it would jinx their travels by talking about it and also because she didn't want to appear weak, she usually wasn't one to read into dreams or let one bother her.

As soon as the squirrel meat was done cooking they dumped some dirt onto the fire to smother the flames.

"Come on, we can snack on that while we walk," Charlie said, hitching her pack onto her back.

Jason and Danny didn't argue with her and grabbed their packs to continue on.

Silently they walked through the trees, each was absorbed in their own thoughts. Danny was walking in front with Charlie and Jason close behind, when Danny stopped suddenly Charlie almost ran into the back of him.

Danny turned around and put a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet. They stood quietly together for a moment before voices could be heard coming from in front of them.

Jason put his hand on Charlie's shoulder, getting her attention, he leaned in, "You and Danny hide and keep low and I'll go check it out."

Charlie shook her head no, "I'll go." She was the quietest of the trio and if she were spotted, a girl alone would seem like much less of a threat and cause less alarm.

Jason held firm, there was no way that he would let Charlie go by herself. He wouldn't be able to handle it if anything happened to her.

"Please," He said, "I need you to stay out of sight." He lead her over behind a large brush pile, "Do not let her leave until I come back," He said to Danny.

Charlie scowled at Jason, he was treating her like a child.

"Come on," Danny said, "Keep low… We can use this time to rest." They crouched behind the brush pile, well concealed from practically any direction.

Jason carefully crept closer to the voices. A small road wound through the trees, Jason stopped and watched, keeping himself hidden in the shadows of the trees. He heard the sound of horse hoofs approaching, two horses attached to a wagon soon came into view. It was the Militia.

**A/N: Reviews make me happy : )**


	6. Chapter 6

The Militia slowly went past, they didn't see Jason as he watched from the shadows cast from the trees. He listened to their mixed conversations for any clues as to what they were doing and where they were heading. It seemed like they were going for supplies, their wagon was relatively empty and he heard one of the men talking about the whiskey that he planned on buying. He followed after them carefully for a while, there was a Sergeant leading the group. He counted 12 soldiers, a lot of them looked fairly young and Jason wouldn't be surprised if they were just out of training, all of them seemed lax right now, on their way back to their camp they'll be on their guard with a wagon full of valuable supplies, but right now they just had an empty wagon.

Jason went back to Charlie and Danny, they were right where he had left them. He filled them in on everything he had seen, Charlie stood with her arms crossed still fuming at Jason for insisting she stay behind and enlisting her younger brother to "baby-sit" her while he ran off.

"I think we should get the wagon," Jason tells them.

"No. That would just draw attention to us," Charlie was quick to disagree.

Jason presses on, "The wagon wouldn't be missed until tomorrow at the soonest, it's empty so it won't be heavily guarded." Their situation would change completely with that wagon, if they could get it they could likely make it to the border in 3 or 4 days and then when they got there they might be able to trade the horses and wagon for a ride across the river. He looked over at Charlie, she still looked skeptical.

"Do you think we can?" Danny asked.

Jason nodded, "We'd have to be quick."

They followed after the wagon, it was currently stopped the horses drinking from a small stream while the men were lounged about. This wasn't where they were going to stop for the night, there was still at least 3 hours left before it'd start getting dark, they were just resting. The soldier part of Jason scoffed at their laziness, the sergeant and the other soldiers didn't look familiar to him and probably didn't have much experience or expectations in their career in the Militia.

Jason made a quick change to their plan.

"We'll take it now," He whispered to both of them.

"No, Jason," Charlie looked at him and grabbed his arm.

"I'll be fine," Jason looked at the position of the wagon, he pointed in the direction he planned on going after getting the wagon, "You and Danny go down that road a ways, when you hear me whistle get ready to jump in. I won't be stopping completely."

Charlie just looked at him, this plan could easily go wrong, and then Jason would be shot or captured.

Jason bent his finger under her chin, "I'll be fine," He told her. Even though she was still upset with him, she let him give her a small kiss before they split up.

Charlie and Danny chose a spot that had coverage but would be easy to get out when they heard Jason coming.

Jason kept himself well hidden as he watched, the Sergeant in command was leaning up against a tree while he took a drink from his flask. "Sloppy," Was all Jason could think as he watched him. While the soldiers under his command certainly didn't seem to mind the comfortable atmosphere, if any superiors saw this he would surely get reprimanded – he was going to get in trouble for losing a wagon, that was for sure. He settled his eyes on the wagon, there was no one between Jason and the wagon and the closest soldier was a few yards away not even looking, the horses had been resting for probably 10 or 15 minutes and were no longer drinking the water. Jason edged out slightly, he managed to stay out of sight until he was right next to the wagon. With a pound heart he grabbed a hold of the reins that were dangling over the edge and pulled himself up into the seat, he gave the horses a good slap with the reins, one bucked slightly with a load neigh, which causing the soldiers to all look over, before they could even get two steps closer the horses were already dashing away, leaving the Sergeant cursing behind them while reaching for his gun. A shot rang out but the wagon was already out of range.

He lead the horses down the road Charlie and Danny were hiding on, his eyes raked the brush and trees as he gave a whistle. From down the road he saw Danny emerge first and then Charlie, he slowed the horses to a trot, they both got a good hold on the edge of the wagon and pulled themselves in. Jason urged the horses into a quick pace and they set off.

"A shot was fired," Charlie stated.

Jason nodded, "Didn't even come close." Charlie nodded then looked forward down the road. Her heart had clenched when they heard the gun fire, it had brought back her memory of hearing the shots when her Dad had been killed. It had been dangerous and stupid to get the wagon, but Jason had been successful and now they'd cover ground faster.

Sitting in the back of the bumpy wagon, Danny grimaced as he remembered being tied up in a wagon much like this one as the soldiers took him to Noblesville. It still wasn't comfortable, but at least he was heading away from Monroe instead of towards. This brought Monroe back to his thoughts, from what he had gotten from Charlie, Uncle Miles had been friends with Monroe and actually helped form the Militia, Miles had said that their Dad knew something about why the power went out, but that just didn't make sense. His Dad had been a smart man, but there was no way he could know more than anyone else why the power went out. But Monroe obviously thought differently; but when his Dad had been killed, why had he been taken? He had just been a kid when the power went out and knew nothing about it, what purpose could he possibly serve. Captain Neville had called him important, more important than him… but why?

They kept the wagon moving at a quick trot, slowing down to give the horses a small break every now and then. The sun set and they kept moving, all three passengers sat on alert listening for anything apart from the horse hoofs hitting the ground and the wagon wheel squeaking. Nothing came. When some clouds started rolling in, obscuring the moon and star light that had been lighting the road for them, they found a spot to get off the road and let the horses rest, and set up a watch. They all stayed in the wagon and kept the horses hitched to the wagon. Jason took the first watch and kept his seat at the head of the wagon, he watched as Charlie rolled her blanket out and laid down, she didn't look at him. He turned to face forward, she had been acting weird all day, she seemed mad at him.

The hard planks that made up the bed of the wagon were impossible to get comfortable on, Charlie finally just laid on her back and looked up at the stars, giving up on trying to find sleep for a little while in hopes that it would sneak up and over take her. She knew that Jason kept looking over at her but she didn't return his gaze, she knew he was just trying to keep her safe but at the same time she felt angry that he was treating her like a helpless fragile thing, she could handle herself. When he had basically tucked her out of the way and told her little brother to watch over her, she felt hurt, did he think she was too stupid or weak to be of any use?

Jason slipped off the driver's bench down into the bed of the wagon, his watch was over. Danny took over as Jason laid down close to Charlie. He had kept his eye on her, she had just fallen asleep less than an hour ago. Slowly he wrapped an arm around her sleeping form. He felt her stir slightly, she woke, he felt her body tense up then she shrugged her shoulder, trying to shrug him off. Jason almost released her and moved away but instead he stayed put.

Charlie shrugged her shoulder again; "Take the hint," She thought angrily. But he didn't. Thoughts of getting up and sitting with Danny crossed her mind, but that just seemed childish, they already weren't going to get enough sleep, she'd be having to get up for her watch soon enough. She pulled her body away from his as much as his arms would allow and forced herself to fall back asleep.

When Danny woke her for her watch, she unceremoniously shook herself out of Jason's arms and took Danny's place.

Charlie watched as the sky slowly started lightening, the birds had been singing for the past hour, dawn was a beautiful time of day. She heard the boys stirring in the bed of the wagon, but kept her gaze diverted.

"Let's get going," Jason said just as the sun came over the horizon, "We'll find some water and let the horses drink."

Charlie gave a noncommittal shrug and moved back to sit with Danny.

Danny looked at his sister as she sat across from him in the bed of the wagon, he had seen her sulky grumpy side before. He raised an eyebrow at her which earned him a small glare before she looked away.

"Pouting," Danny thought, he had seen her pout for a week straight, she had been 13 at the time, their Dad had refused to go and look for their Mom, saying that it was too dangerous. Their Mom had already been gone for a year. Charlie hadn't said a word to anyone for a week and didn't talk to their Dad for more than two.

They found a stream and lead the horses away from the road before letting them rest. Charlie jumped out and went up the stream a bit, she tucked herself out of sight and switched into her extra top and slipped the old one off. She sat down next to the stream and washed her top, she heard the crack of a twig on the ground nearby and without looking knew who it was, she didn't look up or acknowledge him.

Jason had asked Danny to keep an eye out while he went after Charlie, he had kept his gaze on her as she jumped out of the wagon at the first chance and walked away. When she ducked out of sight his heart rate had increased and he immediately set out to follow, but she emerged just a moment later wearing a different top and knelt down to the stream to wash the top she had been wearing. He approached slowly, he needed to know why she was treating him like this. He had done nothing but try to protect her and she had no reason to be upset at him.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him kneel down next to her. He didn't say anything so she didn't. She decided that the shirt was as clean as it was going to get so she wrung it out and stood up. She had tossed her pack by the tree she had changed behind and went to pick it up. Jason was two steps behind her.

"Won't you talk to me?" He finally asked.

Charlie spun around to face him, "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me why you're mad at me," He said a slight edge in his voice as he stepped towards her.

She held her ground and didn't back up, "You act as if I can't take care of myself! I am not a child!" Even she could hear the whiny tone she had taken, which caused her to take a breathe and check her temper, "You can't just tuck me away and ask my brother to baby-sit me, like I'm too stupid to look after myself."

Jason kept his tone steady, "We needed to check out who they were, one person could sneak up on them better than three. I wanted to know where you were going to be so I could find you later, I needed you to be safe."

"I could've gone, I walk quieter than you. I'm surprised they didn't hear you coming."

Jason quietly looked at her for a moment, she started squirming a little under his stare.

"I'm not sorry for wanting to keep you safe."

"I can take care of myself," Charlie grumbled. She looked up at Jason who was just staring at her again, she could practically see what he was thinking, he was remembering all the times he had saved her. She knew he had helped her out of some dangerous situations.

"I'm not saying your incapable, Charlie," Jason said, his temper was starting to rise, "Don't you understand that I need to do everything in my power to keep you safe! I'm not going to send you off to check out a situation that could be dangerous!"

"Why not?" She demanded, "Because I'd mess up and get myself captured? Because I'm too stupid to take care of myself?"

"No, I need to keep you safe because I love you!"

Charlie stood silent, he loved her.

"I love you," Jason said calming down. Charlie just stood there looking at him in surprise. He knew she might pull away, but he had to risk it, he needed to kiss her. He closed the distance between them put his hand behind her head and pulled her to him, his lips covered hers. There was two seconds of uncertainty where Charlie didn't respond to him, then her arms went around his neck and she kissed him back.

He back them up a few steps so her back was pressed against the tree, his mouth never leaving hers. His hands rested around her waist, her top had gotten pushed up slightly so he felt a fraction of her bare skin under his hands. Unable to resist the temptation he slid his hands under her top; her skin was warm and soft and made his head spin.

When the broke apart Jason stayed close, keeping his hands on her exposed waist and leaned his forehead against hers. They both stayed silent catching their breath.

"Please, Charlie," Jason practically whispered, "I can't let anything happen to you. Don't get upset when I try to keep you safe."

Charlie closed her eyes, her forehead still resting on his and his hands still touching her stomach and waist.

"I won't get upset, but you need to understand that I don't want to be tucked out of sight whenever there is a threat. We should stick together, Jason."

Jason just gave a little nod, he liked the sound of her saying that they should stick together, even though he would still try to keep her out of harms way, she would just have to understand.


	7. Chapter 7

Danny sat waiting, somewhat patiently at the wagon, when he saw the two walking back he murmured, "Finally." He noticed that Charlie let Jason help her into the wagon, meaning that whatever disagreement they had been having had been resolved.

They gave the horses short breaks throughout the day, but otherwise kept moving. The sun set and darkness settled over everything, they had been traveling in the dark for a few hours when they pulled off the road to rest for the rest of the night. As the three took turns sleeping the night slowly passed by. Charlie had told Danny, who had the last watch, to wake them before dawn so they could get an early start. They stopped to water the horses and refresh their water supply before continuing west. The day seemed to stretch on forever, the group kept quiet, without the physical activity of walking, they found themselves sinking into almost a stupor.

"Keep alert," Jason said every now and then.

They started coming across more flooded areas where roof tops of buildings or houses stood in the middle of a lake. A few times the road was flooded and they'd have to turn around and find a different route. When they finally came in sight of the Mississippi River the sun was beginning to hang low in the sky. The River looked absolutely daunting, the murky water stretch out so far, the other side was a distance haze.

They followed the river north a ways, an old farm house came into sight, it had a fence separating the yard from the road.

"Do you hear that?" Charlie asked suddenly. Jason quickly looked behind and around them for any approaching danger, seeing none he paused to listen.

"It's music," Danny said incredulously.

They inched the wagon past the house before coming to a complete stop, the light tinkling notes were resonating through the open windows.

A dog barking at the wagon made all three passengers jump, a large short haired yellow dog was barking and bearing it's teeth from the other side of the fence, another dog black but just as big soon joined in.

"Turk. Sam." A sharp voice called, the dogs quieted, the music had stopped and a man with a grey beard filled the door way. He had a cross bow in his hand as he looked out at him, "Evening, kids," He said, "Looking for something?"

"What was that sound?" Charlie asked.

"Just my piano," The man said, "Haven't you ever heard one?"

Charlie and Danny both shook their heads.

They could hear the man click his tongue in disapproval, then there was a few more beats of silence before he asked again, "You looking for something?"

"We're actually looking for a boat," Jason said.

"A boat?" The man repeated.

Jason nodded, "Do you have one?"

"What will you be needing a boat for?"

"Fishing," Jason said in a steady voice, "Do you have one?"

"I might be able to help," The man said vaguely, then just looked at them for a while, taking them in, "Who are you?"

They gave him their fake names that had already been decided on days ago, Nate Walker and Sarah and Jeff McClain.

"Brad Jaffies," The man said, introducing himself.

More silence.

"We're willing to trade you both the horses and the wagon for your boat," Jason said.

Jaffies nodded, "Well, that's a mighty fine deal for me… Makes me wonder if I have to worry about Monroe's boys coming around looking for it."

Charlie sat silent, digging her finger nails into her palm.

Jason kept his eye contact with the man, then said in an even tone, "It might be in your better interest to sell it before too long."

A small chuckle escaped from Jaffies and he gave them another long look over, "Pull that wagon up over here, you leave your weapons by the backdoor there and come in and we can talk about this fishing trip you've got planned."

"We're fine talking out here," Jason said, he wasn't going to put his weapons down and enter a strange house.

Brad Jaffies held up his cross bow in a peaceful gesture, "I'll only act defensively, Nate. You kids don't do anything stupid and nobody will get hurt. And you'll get a boat trip out of the deal."

Jason held Brad Jaffies gaze for a while before Charlie touched his elbow and whispered, "I think it'll be OK, we need his boat."

Jason mulled it over a few moments more before whispering back to Charlie, "Stay close to me." If need be, as long as the guy doesn't have any firearms, Jason could defend them against this guy, Brad Jaffies if necessary he seemed rather old, still capable, but old.

Their weapons were set down by the back door and they entered the small farm house, they were lead through the kitchen and into a living room.

Brad Jaffies gestured for them to sit. Jason carefully and subtly lead Charlie to a seat farthest from this stranger.

"So…" The man started, "You're going fishing?"

"Yes," Jason said.

"On the Mississippi?"

"Yes," Jason repeated.

Silence.

"Will you be able to bring the boat back?"

"If you accept the trade, then we will consider the boat ours," Jason answered smartly.

"If you want to just be on the river for a while, I have a ferry I can send out and then pull back in when you're done fishing."

"Oh?" Jason asked.

"Yes, got a rope attached to the ferry and the dock out back there," The man gestured with his head towards the river.

"How long is the rope?"

"Oh it's plenty long, stretched it once all the way across the river once… I'm sure it'd be plenty long for whatever you need to do."

"We wouldn't be needing the boat once we've finished fishing, if you give us two hours then you can pull it back and still keep the horses and wagon for payment."

The man nodded, "Sounds like a deal."

"Thank you," Jason said and made to stand up.

"Can't take it tonight, kid."

"Why?" Jason asked, his tone had turned colder.

"There's a man on the other side of the river, he'd likely shoot you if you came in after dark… Stay the night here and you can set out at first light," Jaffies paused, thinking something over, "I sometimes cross the river to chew the fat with him… If he can get a good look at the ferry he'll recognize it as mine and not shoot you right away."

"That's reassuring," Danny said mildly.

"That's your business, kid," The man said then stood up, "If you'll be staying, I'll get you some blankets."

After he left the room, Charlie, Jason and Danny had a quick and quiet discussion, and decided that this was as good of chance as any for crossing.

When Brad Jaffies returned he set a stack of three thick blankets down, "You're welcome to stay in here, or you can stay in the barn out back."

After they chose the barn, Brad invited them to join him for supper.

"Why are you helping us?" Danny asked him.

"I'm getting the better end of a trade, son. I'll be able to fetch a good price for those horses there and I'll be able to have someone besides Turk and Sam to listen to me play."

Jaffies offered a wash bowl for them and after cleaning their hands and faces and switching the water out three times, they felt clean(er). Sitting down at the table with real dishes seemed so foreign it felt borderline absurd, with the Militia after them, why were they sitting here patiently passing the dishes of fish and potatoes around?

After feeding them, Brad Jaffies passed out hot tea while they sat in his living room. He took his seat on a bench by his piano and twinkled the keys lightly under his fingers.

"Sad that there is so much music that you kids will never be able to hear," Jaffies said as he took a sip of his tea.

"What did you do before?" Danny asked.

"Algebra teacher," The man said and set his cup back down on the saucer.

"So was our dad," Charlie said. The man looked up, interested, "Oh? What was his name?"

Charlie felt a hint of panic, the plan had been to say as little as possible about themselves, "Ben McClain."

Jaffies just nodded, "Well I don't know any Ben _McClain_." He surveyed them some more, "Well, I'll let you kids tuck in. At first light you can head out… Earlier is better than later."

As they lay out the blankets the man leant them as well as their own, they set up shifts for watch.

"What do you think about him?" Danny asked.

"He seems alright, I think," Charlie said, then looked at Jason.

"Yeah," Jason said slowly, "I'd bet that he's a rebel… I'm more worried about this guy that's on the other side."

All three sat silently, thinking of what could lay in store for them outside of the Monroe Republic. Over the last few days of their travels they had developed a story to tell anyone who questioned them once they were across, but they knew practically nothing about how the Prairie Nations was run or what their laws were. It could be difficult.

None of them slept well that night, the two that weren't on watch just laid there, when they weren't fitfully sleeping they lay still, silently waiting for dawn.

Jaffies met them outside, "Morning, kids," He said holding a cup of what looked like coffee.

He led the way to his dock.

"You said you knew someone on the other side of the river," Jason said.

"Yes, Mitch… Nice bloke, good with a harmonica," Jaffies said, but didn't offer up any more information.

His ferry was a little rough looking, though he insisted that it was stable enough. Jaffies pulled on a rope by the dock and a large basket floated up muddy water poured out from the wire basket.

"Ah, catfish," Jaffies said looking in the basket. Charlie, Danny and Jason looked over and saw two large catfish flopping around.

"Oh," Charlie said when no one else was responding. They watch with a touch of confusion as Jaffies lifted the basket up to show a chain hooked to the bottom of the basket. He unclipped the chain and lifted it up. The length of the chain pulled out from the water as Jaffies strung it through a large metal ring on the end of the ferry and then clipped it on another ring at the end of his dock. Their eyes followed the chain as it crossed the length of the river.

"Pull yourself along with that," Jaffies told them, "I'll give you enough time to cross then I'll pull it back with that rope, if I start pulling to soon give it a tug." He pointed to a long length of rope that was tied onto the back of the ferry.

"Alright kids, better get off now, sooner is better than later after all."

The three carefully climbed on, the ferry bobbing as they tried to distribute their weight as evenly as possible.

Nodding good bye to Jaffies, Jason picked up the chain and started to pull them away from the shore.

The chain was covered with a thin layer of slime from the river, if you didn't get a good hold on it your hand would slip off.

"Do you both know how to swim?" Jason asked.

"A little," Charlie said, looking back to the shore that was now almost 100 feet away, then towards the west shore, it was still so far away. Slow and steady they pulled their way across, if they pulled to fast they would rock and water would slosh up the sides.

When they neared the other shore they saw a man standing on a dock, a man with a gun.

"Welcome wagon?" Danny asked dryly.

"What should we do?" Charlie asked.

"Just keep calm," Jason said, "He's Jaffies friend. We'll see what he wants."

Too soon their ferry bumped on to the dock.

"What's yer business here?" The man asked, keeping his grip tight on his shotgun but not aiming it at them.

"We traded with Brad Jaffies to use his boat," Jason said.

"What's yer business _here_," The man asked again.

"Just want to pass through."

"Get on off," The man said.

They carefully stepped off the ferry with their bags and weapons in their hands. They came to a stop a few feet away.

"We're hoping to just continue on our way, sir," Jason told him.

They each got a long look from the man.

"Now, how do I know you aren't a bunch of spies?" He didn't loosen his grip on the shotgun and he clearly wanted an answer.

"We got into a bit of trouble with Monroe's Militia," Jason said.

"I don't think we want any trouble makers around here."

"We didn't go looking for the trouble, sir, nor intend to cause it," Jason told him firmly, squaring his shoulders.

The man's eyes went to Jason and seemed to give him a harder once over, noticing his soldier's stance and physic. His eyes went to the dark haired boy's companions, the other boy looked a little younger and had more of the homespun look to him.

"Can we please just pass through," The girl said, and his eyes went to her, she also seemed more homespun, lacking the same formal air as the dark haired boy.

Jason saw the man's eyes slip over to Charlie for a moment and quickly brought the attention back to him by asking, "Would Brad Jaffies send us over if he thought that we might be spies?"

"Doesn't matter what Brad would do, this ain't his property you're on right now."

"Then let us pass through and we'll be off of your property," Danny said.

"I want to know why a member of the Militia would be running from them," The man said with his eyes looking straight at Jason.

Jason's jaw muscles clenched slightly, "I didn't agree with a superior officer how to handle a situation."

"Oh? I'll warrant that it had something to do with these two."

Jason just gave a little nod.

"Don't think that Grath would look kindly to a member of Monroe's Militia."

"A former member," Jason corrected him.

"Just the same."

"So don't tell him," Jason said with a slight edge in his tone.

The man's eyes darkened, "My son is a member of the Army and General Charles Grath deserves our loyalty."

Jason held his hands out in front of him, "I didn't mean any disrespect, sir."

"Please, sir, just let us pass," Charlie said to the man, "We don't want anything to do with armies or militias."

"That's a tall statement there, missy, war is everywhere."

There was a long pause after that statement where he kept looking at them.

"Head on out then," He said with a sudden jerk of his head.

They looked in that direction and saw a road. They slowly started walking towards it.

"Don't try any funny business if a soldier finds you," The man warned.

When they finally reached the road, Charlie let out an audible sigh of relief.

**A/N: aw, they're safe and sound on the other side of the great Mississippi. But, will this be an example of the saying "out of the frying pan and into the fire"? Or will they be able to scrape by unnoticed by General Grath's army... dun dun dun. **

**Thanks so much for the reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

They stayed close to the roads as they traveled along, finding a route west, wanting to get a few more miles from the border.

So much of their efforts have been towards getting out of the Republic, and now they were. While they felt some success with their journey they now felt the reality of their situation, their plan to blend in and find work somewhere seemed laughably simple minded. They knew nothing about how things are run here.

"I wonder what their soldiers are like," Jason said, thinking aloud.

"I'd rather not find out," Charlie replied.

"I'm for that."

"Old Man River seemed to think pretty highly of them," Danny said, then looked at Jason, "He could tell you were Militia."

Jason tightened his jaw slightly, annoyed that he had been pegged so easily, "Yeah."

Walking through mid-day before deciding to find a good spot to stay for the rest of the day and night, they needed a chance to rest and talk about what they needed to do next. They got off the road and walked through the tree covered hills, they found a clearing that was fairly flat.

Charlie set her pack down. "I'll go try to get some game," Charlie said and slung her cross-bow over her shoulder.

Jason looked over at her and took a few steps towards her, "No."

Charlie raised her eye brows, "No?"

"I can go… or Danny."

Silence.

Charlie finally broke the silence and said with an air of finality, "I'll be back in just a bit, I won't go far."

Jason stood there watching her go for a second, his first instinct is to go after her, follow her and make sure she's alright.

"She'll be right back," Danny told him. The two of them gathered some firewood, Jason kept stopping and listening and looking around. He knelt down over the spot they had picked for the fire and built the firewood up, using jerky movements he tried and failed to get the fire started, after of few minutes he finally tossed his flint to the ground and looking around the tree line for Charlie, with an exasperated sigh he turned to Danny, "Why can't your sister just listen to me?"

"She doesn't like to listen to anyone, no need to get all miffed because of it," Danny said with a shrug, "She'll be fine."

Jason is quiet for a few more moments, then stood up, "I'm going to go find her."

Danny looked up in almost amusement, which started to infuriate Jason, "She's your sister, don't you care that she's out by herself in an unknown territory?"

Danny held his hands up, "Calm down, she'll be fine… she's gone hunting loads of times ever since we were kids."

"You can't know that she's fine, you're just sitting there."

Then Danny looked behind Jason, and saw Charlie coming back towards them, "I can see for myself right there."

Charlie set three squirrels down, she looked at Jason who was still standing by his failed attempt at a fire. She could tell by the look on his face that he was upset, she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Jason, don't start."

"There was no reason why you had to go," Jason said.

"And what was the reason that I shouldn't have gone?" Charlie asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.

Danny gave a loud sigh and walked away, pretending to have a sudden interest in a tree a few feet away.

"It's dangerous out there," Jason said, "We don't know anything about how everything works here."

"Every where is dangerous, Jason," She paused remembering having this conversation with her Dad the day that he died, she blink once with a little shake of her head to rid herself of the memories of that day, "But that doesn't mean that I need to be tied to you or Danny for every second."

They stared at one another for a while longer, then Charlie knelt down where Jason had been trying to get the fire going and managed to turn a spark off the flint into a small flame, carefully feeding it dry leaves she managed to make the flame grow.

"There's a lake a little ways that way," Charlie said nodding in the direction where she had been hunting.

Jason didn't respond.

Charlie sighed and stepped closer to him, she reached out and took his hand, "Please Jason, it doesn't need to be a fight each time I want to do something besides sit by a fire… I know how to be careful when I'm hunting, I can walk quietly and I have good hearing, so I can tell if somebody is close or following me… You should know that, I heard you following me remember?"

Jason gave her a "don't bring that up" look, the two days it took him to get un-cuffed from that telephone pole were not memories he liked brought up.

"I don't want us to be upset with one another," Charlie said in a quiet voice. She was just a foot away from him, she brought her hands up and rested them on his chest. Jason felt his insides soften at her touch, he wanted to continue with their argument until she understood that he was only trying to keep her safe and that she should listen to him. But his reserve to stay firm melted when he saw Charlie slowly leaning forward to kiss him, he cradled her jaw in his hands as he kissed her back.

Danny returned and cleared his throat, he poured a little of water from his water skin on a rock near the fire and rubbed it clean, or rather, removed most of the visible dirt. He picked up one of the squirrels and started skinning and gutting it.

Jason pulled away from the kiss after hearing Danny return, he gave her another kiss on her cheek then started busying himself with preparing a spit to cook the meat on.

"It'd be nice to wash in the lake after we eat," Charlie told them.

"Is that a hint that I smell?" Danny asked with a good hearted grin as he started gutting the next squirrel.

"Oh, just terrible, Danny," Charlie joked back, "And I don't know why."

"Just laziness, I guess, I'm just too lazy to stop running from Militia to take a bath."

Jason listened to the brother and sister banter back and forth while he arranged the meat on the spit and positioned it over the flame to cook.

After eating they put out the flames and grabbed their stuff to head to the lake that Charlie had spotted earlier. They set their things down and each one just looked out over the lake, it was beautiful. The water was so smooth it acted like a mirror, reflecting the trees that lined that lake and the white clouds that peppered the sky. In all reality it was just like the lakes they had passed by on days previous, but they were now able to relax a bit more and take it in. The world seemed safer now.

A snap of a twig brought all three back to their senses, they quickly looked towards the sound, their guard up.

A man emerged and walked to the lake, he looked over at them while he was squatting down at the bank, he rested a large plastic jug on its side so water could pour in through the spout. He had a bow and arrow slung on his back along with a quiver full of arrows, but he didn't reach for them. His face was clean shaven and his hair had flecks of gray, he had a friendly vibe about him that caught all three by surprise, but they didn't let their guard down.

"Traveling through?" He asked after they had stared at each other for a while.

Jason gave a small nod.

The man nodded and looked back at his water jug, "You'll want to treat this water before drinking it."

Jason's brow furrowed, this man was giving advice to them, taking it with a grain of salt he replied, "Thanks."

"No problem," The man said. Then picked up the jug from the water and twisted a cap on it. Standing up he gave them another look, "Good luck with your travels."

"Thanks," Jason said again. They all stood still, holding their weapons as they watched him walk away.

Several minutes passed, they heard the man's footfalls get quieter as he got further away.

"Nice guy," Danny said, his voice spoke clearly of his disbelief.

"Yeah," Jason said, his eyes scanning the trees around them, was the guy's group surrounding them for an ambush?

The minutes ticked by and they didn't move.

"Let's go a little farther down," Charlie suggested. They walked a bit further, keeping their eyes and ears alert.

All three were still on edge, waiting for something to happen.

"Well," Charlie said breaking the silence, "I'm going to wash."

She took her shoes and socks off and moved closer to the water's edge and set her pack and jacket off to the side.

Jason looked around the tree line and then out of the corner of his eye he saw Charlie pull her top off, his gaze went immediately to her. The sight of her honey colored hair spread out across her bare back caused Jason's pulse to quicken, he closed his eyes and forced his head to look the other way. He tried to focus his mind on keeping a look out, he tried to think of what they were going to do next, he tried to think of anything except for the image of her standing there without a shirt but that's what was in the forefront of his mind. It was almost a relief when he heard her out of the water and putting clothes back on.

Danny took his turn, leaving Charlie and Jason to keep an eye out for any danger.

"Do you think that guy is watching us?" Charlie asked.

Jason looked around, "I don't know… Probably lives right around here. He might've just wanted to check us out to see if we were a threat." His eyes settled on Charlie, her skin was still damp and she had tied her wet hair in a knot to keep it out of her face, she looked beautiful. She looked over at him, when she saw he had been watching her she looked away trying to hide her slight blush with a smirk, "You're supposed to be helping me keep watch, not staring at me."

"You're distracting," He said, letting his eyes linger on the subtle curve of her collar bone.

"Distracting?" Charlie asked looking back at him.

Jason gave a little nod, his eyes scanned the trees around them before settling on Charlie again.

"How am I distracting?"

Jason detected a slight edge in her voice, hoping she doesn't think he meant it as a bad thing, he reached over and took her hand, "You're all I can think about… It's a good distraction."

"But a distraction," Charlie said, looked around their surroundings again, "What do you think about?" She asked almost shyly.

"Oh, well," Jason said, trying not to show his nerves, he couldn't tell her where his thoughts usually went, so he improvised, "Just, you…"

Charlie could tell he was nervous and tried to hide her amusement.

Jason saw her trying not to smile and he added, "The way your eyes shine when you smile, the way you fidget when you're nervous," He stepped even closer to her, feeling braver he gently lifted a hand to her cheek, "I think about how I get to hold you at night and how soft your skin in," He was speaking in practically a whisper, "And how your lips feel on mine."

"Oh," Was all Charlie could think to say.

"It's a very good sort of distraction," Jason practically breathed, his hand was still on her cheek, softly he stroked his thumb over her cheek bone, her lips parted slightly as she let out a small sigh. Feeling completely drawn to her, he brought his lips to hers.

"Thanks for keeping a look out for me," Danny said rolling his eyes as he pushed his wet hair away from his eyes.

Charlie and Jason broke apart, Charlie understanding what he meant by a distraction.

Jason was quick to wash, not wanting to be away from Charlie. He felt his Monroe Militia burn mark as he rubbed the water on his arms, he had been doing a good job not thinking about the life he had left behind, his mind had been too focused on Charlie. He looked up towards where her and her brother stood, she was looking at him, she quickly looked away when he caught her gaze.

After seeing the stranger by the lake, the area that they had originally planned to stay the night at didn't seem as secure. They moved a few miles further west before finding a new spot to camp for the night.

There seemed to be a swarm of unspoken things flying between Charlie and Jason, long glances at one another, finding excuses to touch or be near each other, Danny did his best to ignore it as they found a spot to camp. After getting situated there was still maybe an hour left before the sun set, Danny decided to remove himself for a few minutes, give them time to themselves.

"I'll go find some firewood," Danny said, Charlie looked over him questioningly, they weren't planning on having a fire tonight, Danny finished rather lamely, "In case we want to have one in the morning… I'll be close by." He stood up and walked off.

Jason seized this opportunity quickly, setting his pack down he crossed over to Charlie. She looked over at him right as he was wrapping his arms around her, pulling her in for a kiss. The interrupted moment by the lake picked up right where they had left off, the intensity fueled by the fact that these moments seemed so few and far between.

Jason was relishing the feel of her, she hadn't stopped him when his hand lingered on the hem of her top and his hand was now caressing up her side, hearing her breath catch slightly at his touch was enough to make him forget about where they were and the fact that her brother would soon return.

None of that mattered, all that mattered was Charlie. His body was practically screaming for more, more touching, more feeling, more Charlie. His mouth left hers and went to her neck, as his kisses got closer to her ear she let out moan. Her soft moan made his mind go completely blank, his body seemed to be acting on its own accord, before either of them could process what they were doing they were both on the ground. She lay under him as his kisses went from the delicious spot by her ear that made her moan, down her neck and over her collarbone, his mouth paused when it reached the fabric of her top.

She had one hand in his hair and another was grasping on to his arm, when his kisses stopped she practically whispered, "Jason." Begging him to continue.

Hearing her say his name spurred him on, moving more tenderly than before he brought his hand up to her chest, his mind was ecstatic as he felt her beautiful curves, he used his thumb to lower the neckline of her top, his mouth moving to explore the recently exposed flesh.

Her body felt on fire with a type of hunger she had never felt before, the kind that didn't want to be sated, with each of his kisses it only grew, wanting more and more. She moaned his name as his tongue circled the tip of her breast, everything was so new and amazing, she didn't want it to stop.

Hearing her moan his name was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard, he wanted to do more, make her moan more. A small voice in his mind said that it wasn't the time for this, he kept trying to ignore it but finally that small voice of reason won. He gave her a long kiss on the mouth before pulling back, "We have to stop, Charlie," He practically panted.

"No," She said and pulled him back down for a kiss.

He pulled away again, "No, we have to."

"I don't want to stop, Jason."

Jason looked into her eyes his mind whirling, does she really mean that she doesn't want to stop at all? He put his hand along her jaw, "I don't either," He said with a deep passionate voice that he hardly recognized as his own, "But not here." He wanted their moment to be more than just a quickie in the forest, it needed to be more.

Charlie's thoughts were trying to keep up with her emotions. She hadn't been thinking straight when she said that she didn't want to stop, she hadn't realized what not stopping would lead to, now that the heat from the moment was slowly cooling down she was able to process everything. With her senses returning to her, she knew that she did want to go all the way, but understood what Jason meant by "Not here."

Jason helped Charlie up, they each composed themselves a bit more, picking leaves and twigs out of hair and straightening clothes. Then rested and waited for Danny to return, Jason felt almost like he needed to thank him for giving them some time alone, but that would be awkward to thank someone for making themselves scarce so he could make-out with their sister.

The following morning they decided to walk through the morning, then they'd start looking for a place to stay after mid day.

After being turned down at four houses they came upon the Millers, Mr. and Mrs. Miller's son had just left to join the army and they agreed to exchange a place to stay through the winter for help with the fields and the orchard. Their son had lived in a small house on the other side of the orchard with his wife, when the son left his wife moved in with his parents, leaving the little house vacant. Mrs. Miller made it clear that they would be in charge of their own food, "You can have a portion of what you help harvest, but we have only enough food stored for us. There's a town down the road where you'll be able to trade for what you need."

The small house was partially built into a hillside, the front of the house had a living room that stretched the width of the house, behind that was a kitchen with a black cooking stove that had a black pipe going up through the ceiling, a small table with two chairs sat right by a door frame with a blanket draped over it that lead to the one bedroom that had a low ceiling that slanted down at the back of the room. There were only two windows in the house both in the living room.

"The little stove heats the house pretty well, it needs to be cleaned out often or else it smokes," The young Mrs. Miller, who insisted on being called Elaine, told them as she stood with her hand resting on her swollen belly looking around the little house fondly, "It's not much, but it is such a good little house." Then she went about showing the details of the house, like the small cellar/ storm shelter and the wood pile.

"I can't wait to move back in," Elaine said, "I miss having my own house," then she quickly squared her shoulders a bit, "But it is so nice of Mother to let me stay with her; I know it puts helped put Andy's mind at ease, he was upset when he learned that he wouldn't be able to be here when the baby's born," A small crease formed in between her eyebrows, before letting out a sigh, "Well, that's just the way things are right now."

"When do you think he'll be back?" Charlie said, feeling like someone needed to say something.

Elaine looked like she was nearing tears and the boys instantly pulled back as Charlie placed a consoling hand on Elaine's shoulder.

"I don't know, he just left to start training, hopefully he'll be able to get leave mid winter, but I just don't know," A single tear streaked down her face, "With the threat of war… what if he gets called out to the line before he even meet his baby."

Jason felt awkward with the situation but couldn't help asking more about the war. She looked up, "Well, just about everyone is getting drafted, all the men I mean. They're all getting sent into training… I'm surprised that neither of you have been picked yet… I suppose it'd because you aren't settled."

"Drafted?" Charlie asked, not understanding the situation

"The army requested him to join," Elaine says, looking at Charlie as if she's explaining the simplest of things, "They started doing it here about 6 years ago, Andy's older brother was one of the first to be drafted from these parts. He's a Lieutenant in Kansas City now," the way she said it made it clear that they were proud of him.

"I need to be getting back up to the main house, there are bed linens and towels in this cupboard," She said as she opened up a cupboard door by the bedroom door, "All our blankets are up at the main house," She turned to Charlie, "I'd be happy to share some of my fabric scraps if you want to make a quilt before winter."

Charlie looked at her a little dumbfounded, never having sewn more than what was necessary to sloppily fix a tear in her pants or something similar, "Uh… we have some blankets with us."

"Alright, we'll I'll let you all get settled in."

After she left the three of them stood awkwardly in the living room of the little house.

"Well," Jason said and started looking around more. The counter tops and the cabinets had been recovered from an old house and they held cookware and dishes that Elaine gave them permission to use. The living room had two arm chairs and a sofa that was really just a sleeping cot with pillows propped up against the wall to act as the back of the sofa.

"What do you think about this draft?" Charlie asked both boys.

"I don't know, everyone keeps mentioning a war," Danny said.

"They're preparing for war," Jason said, "They're preparing to attack the Republic… I wonder how many men they are… she said 6 years ago…" he clasped his hands behind him and he stared off into space, getting lost in his thoughts.

"But what if one of us gets drafted," Charlie said, "We'd be right back where we started… we'd have to run."

"We wouldn't be right back where we started," Jason said, snapping out of his thoughts, "Their army wants to train and prepare us, the Militia wanted to capture and or kill us… It'd be easier to slip away from their army. We can try to keep a low profile here for a few months and then leave early spring."

There was almost no other option, from what they had heard and seen so far, this was how it was everywhere, it was just like Mitch from the river said, "was is everywhere." There might not be any escaping it. Plus, if they did leave there was no guarantee of finding somewhere else to winter, they were lucky to have found this place where they would be able to weather out the winter months in adequate comfort.

The three stood there quietly for a while, trying to get a handle on the situation they had been flung into. Two sharp raps on the wood door broke the silence and made Charlie jump.

Danny opened the door.

"Come on and get this mattress on in there," Mr. Miller told Danny, he had a thin mattress on the back of his small wagon.

Danny carried it in to the house.

"It ain't much, but it's better than the floor," Mr. Miller said by way of explaining. His eyes stayed on Jason for a while before flicking to Charlie.

"Well," Mr. Miller said with a clap of his hands, "Come on along and I'll show you boys the ropes."

Charlie started to follow but Mr. Miller pointed her towards their house, "The wife is canning, you can go on along and help."

Charlie felt almost insulted, being dismissed back to the house, trying not to sound too rude she said, "I was planning on helping out of doors more than inside."

"We won't need the extra help till harvest time. For now, the missus wants your help inside. If your a good help I'm sure she'll give you a share of the canned goods."

Jason gave her hand a squeeze as he walked past her and out the door.

Mr. Miller gave them a tour of the farm as he told them what was going to be expected. When the were walking down the row of apple trees Mr. Miller spoke, "Now while you folks are here we're trusting you. We're giving you a good place to stay and we're expecting you all to give us a good hard days work, we won't be expecting anything more or less than what we expected from our boys." He turned and looked at both of them, "I don't know what its like where you came from but around here we're close with out neighbors and no one around here will look kindly on you if any mischief happens."

"We appreciate your hospitality and don't want to cause any mischief," Danny assured Mr. Miller.

"Good, now Danny, you can go start mucking the horses stalls, the wheel barrow is right inside, I'll show you where to take it when you've got a load ready. Jason come on over here."

Jason followed him as he talked about a section of fence that needed mending, when they got out of earshot of Danny, Mr. Miller changed the subject, "So the girl is Danny sister, what's her relationship to _you_?"

"We aren't related."

Mr. Miller gave Jason a long hard look, while Jason tried not to look uncomfortable but he didn't know what else to tell him and Mr. Miller obviously wanted more of an answer. When it became apparent that no more explanation was coming, he gave him a disapproving shake of his head, "Just because there isn't any electricity, doesn't make it okay to live in sin."

"Oh, no sir," Jason said quickly, realizing what Mr. Miller was thinking, "No. We haven't… I mean we don't…" Jason felt the absolute ridiculousness of this, why was he having to explain to this farmer that him and Charlie hadn't had sex yet. "I-I mean I love her, but we haven't… I mean we only just got together."

Mr. Miller suddenly felt like he was talking to one of his own sons, "There's no point in waiting then if you love one another. Nick and Andy both got married right when their girls were 18, they knew the draft was coming."

"Well, we're going to be traveling farther south in the spring."

"You'd be able to protect her more by being her husband… If you get drafted before getting married, she'd be left alone. But as the wife of a soldier, she'll get more protection and if you move up in ranks she can even stay on base."

The draft and the war, that was all anyone could talk about.

Mr. Miller gave him a little fabric bag with nails in it and a hammer, he showed him where the new boards were and pointed out the sections that needed to be repaired.

"Well, think on what I said. We've got a good church in town, Minister's always happy to do a wedding."

Then Mr. Miller walked away leaving Jason with his thoughts. Of course he wanted to marry Charlie, have her for his wife, but it seemed so silly to be thinking about a marriage while trying to blend in with a country preparing for war with the country they just fled from. Mr. Miller really hit the nail on the head when he mentioned how he'd be able to protect Charlie better as her husband. The way he spoke of the draft, like it was inevitable, worried Jason, he had no idea that the Prairie Nation would be so set on building an army. What was even more alarming was how everyone they had spoken to seemed to not only approve of the army, but actually support it. In the Republic is was far more common for civilians to have more fear than respect for the Militia.

Danny joined him an hour later, smelling of horse manure.

The two finished up close to sunset and walked back to the little house.

Charlie had her own stories from the day after being in the kitchen with Elaine and Mrs. Miller.

"Elaine kept talking and asking questions," Charlie told them, "I tried to stick with the story as much as I could."

Their dinner consisted of whatever they still had in the packs, the same thing they had been eating for days with little variation.

They make a plan to go into the town to get food and supplies sometime tomorrow. The town was about two miles away, they had walked around it before meeting the Millers.

After discussing whether or not they would need to keep a watch through the night they decided, to everyone's relief, that it wouldn't be necessary. The front and only door had a lock and both Jason and Danny would be in the front room, they both planned on having their swords close at hand.

Charlie didn't try to hid her disappointment when she learned that Jason would sleep in the living room, she had gotten used to the comfort of sleeping next to him. A much as Jason wanted to sleep next to Charlie alone and in a bed, he knew it would be too easy to go too far, all it would take would be one kiss from her while they lay under the covers, after talking to Mr. Miller he had his mind on matrimony. The thought of waiting to have her until she was his wife was enough to help him wait.

**A/N: Thank everyone for the reviews! I love reading them. I'm so glad that so many of you like it! **

**Well what do you think of this chapter? Let me know what you think (It is my birthday, doesn't that deserve a review in itself?).**

**The next chapter will hold a few more details of the Prairie Nation and it's army, like how they are able organize and keep control over such a large land space (spanning from the Mississippi to over the Rockies and into Canada) without modern forms of communication.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am terribly embarrassed with how long it took me to update, the break of the real show seem short in comparison, didn't it? I'm so sorry and I hope you enjoy this much over-due chapter.**

* * *

The comfort of lying in a real bed wasn't enough to stop Charlie from being restless, after weeks of traveling and always being on guard it was difficult to relax, the sounds of the night couldn't be heard and the silence was unsettling plus, she felt cornered in the small bedroom. Danny had the cross-bow in the front room, leaving her with just a sword, she's not terrible with a blade, but is a lot less confident with it than a bow. The room was pitch-black, whatever moonlight that came in through the windows in the front room was blocked by the blanket in the door way.

She had given up on sleep and just stared into the darkness, she wondered how Miles, Aaron and Nora were, if they were still alive, they would probably a few days away from Philadelphia by now. Charlie squeezed her eyes shut at the thought that they might not be alive, they had to be… She shook her head slightly, trying to shake those thoughts away, she could hope that they were all alive and as safe as could be given that they were walking into the lion's den of the Monroe Republic; but worrying would be pointless, there was nothing she could do. She was hundreds of miles away with Danny and Jason. Jason, her thoughts drifted towards him, he had left everything to come with her. He said that he loved her, but they've known each other for a small amount of time, how could he have been certain enough to leave his life behind. She sighed and rolled over onto her side as she thought about her feelings towards him. As her mind kept whirling she found herself missing him more and more. He had decided to sleep in the front room, away from her, probably thinking she was safer farther away from the door and putting himself between her and any possible danger.

Charlie grew tired of sitting alone with her thoughts, making the decision to go out and lay next to Jason she started scooting out of bed. Maybe she'd be able to get some sleep if she was next to him. She had stripped down to her undergarments before bed and her clothes lay on the bottom corner. She blindly found her tank top and pulled it over her head, as she moved to grab her pants her shin banged on the metal bed frame with a clank and she let out a gasp of pain.  
"Are you alright?" Jason's whisper came from the doorway a few moments later; he must not have been sleeping either.  
"Yeah," She sat down on the bed, "Hit my shin."  
She could hear his soft footsteps stepping into the dark room and felt the bed shift as he sat next to her.  
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked.  
Charlie shook her head, and then realized that he couldn't see her she said aloud, "No," She hesitated for a bit more, "I was going to come and lay in the front room... I feel so trapped back here."

"Nothing is going to happen," He said, he reached his arm out and found her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling himself closer to her, "We're safe now." They both knew that there was no certainty behind his words, but Charlie let herself find comfort in them anyways.

"How about if I lay with you for a while?" He asked, "This mattress is ten times better than the one out there."

They crawled up to the top of the bed and slid under the covers. She rolled on to her side and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. The comfort of the soft bed with real pillows paled in comparison to the feel of having her next to him. He tighten his arm around her waist, holding her close. He promised himself that once she fell asleep he'd return to the front room, he knew that it would be hard to leave her side, but he didn't want to worry about that right now, right now he wanted to just revel in the feeling of her in his arms while they lay in relative safety and comfort. As he held her he suddenly realized that she wasn't wearing pants, she had taken them off to sleep leaving her in just her underwear. She was laying pressed up against him half naked. He didn't move his arm, but now the fact that he couldn't feel the top of her pants that normally hugged her hips was screaming at him. He was trying to calm his thoughts down when Charlie spoke in a whisper.

"When you told me you loved me," She started, then she turned in his arms to face him.

He closed his eyes as she repositioned herself, her bare legs were tangled up with his now, "Yeah?" He asked his voice somewhat strained as he tried to keep his mind off her practically naked lower half that was pressed up against him.

She leaned up towards him and found his cheek with her hand, "I love you too." She brought her lips to his.

Her words were resonating inside of him as he kissed her back, she loved him.

* * *

The days went by and a routine was developed, Jason and Danny were at Mr. Miller disposal for the morning and late afternoon hours, once harvesting started they'd work from sun up to sun down. Charlie spent her time helping with the chores that were getting difficult for Elaine to perform, helping Mrs. Miller and Elaine can and preserve food for the winter months and helped in the house garden. Mrs. Miller never spoke to her unless she was giving her directions but was willing to giving Charlie a small portion of what she had helped preserve. During the first few days Charlie tried to keep to herself when Jason and Danny were out, doing the chores that needed to be done but then separating herself from Mrs. Miller and Elaine. The solitude was welcomed, she hunted, gathered and fished, and then would try to make something edible for Jason and Danny, which usually meant dumping whatever vegetables and meat they had at the time into a pot with some water and salt and calling it soup, maybe adding in some wild herbs that she had found while gathering. Jason hated it that she would wonder around by herself, despite her reassurances that she was careful and wouldn't venture too far away. She found herself comfortable with her surroundings, there were times that apart from the slightly different terrain she could've been back home hunting outside her village. Everything seemed so peaceful, she learned where the neighbors lived and was able to avoid their property easily.

During her fifth or sixth time hunting since being settled she managed to stalk a deer and take it down with one well-aimed shot. She pulled back and loaded her crossbow before approaching the animal. Slowly stepping closer, with her crossbow aimed at the doe, the deer made no attempts at movements but Charlie was close enough to see the deer's torso rising and falling irregularly, becoming slower and slower. Unable to take it any more, Charlie carefully circled around and quickly slid her knife across the deer's throat, blood poured out and the labored breathing stopped.

Setting her cross bow down as she went to the belly to begin the field dressing, she'd have to haul it back on her own, it'd be hours before Danny and Jason would be done and the meat couldn't just sit unattended in the woods.

As she worked she tried to gauge the approximate weight, after removing the unnecessary weight it'd probably be under a hundred pounds, but not by much. This is only the fourth deer she's taken down in herself, the other three had been back home and Danny had been there to help.

Charlie was engrossed in her work, using careful slices to remove the organs without puncturing them. She wasn't sure if it was a sound, smell or just a feeling that made her look up, when she did she saw three dogs standing just a few yards away. As soon as their eyes meet the dogs leaped forward, teeth bared as they charged at her. Pushing herself away from her kill with too much force she fell backwards. Scrambling back before regaining her wits and her balance. She was a few feet away when she cursed out loud as she remembered her cross-bow that was still resting by the doe. More dogs came from the trees, a full pack of wild dogs. An oak tree was only a few feet from her as one of the dogs took a lunge at her, she was able to take a swipe at the animals side with the knife clutched in her hand, still red from the deer's blood. She heard a yelp but didn't look back. Taking a lunge for the lowest branch on the oak she pulled herself up. She looked down at the angry jaws of the two wolves that had pursued her, climbing up higher she watched the pack of wild dogs pulling meat off her kill. She slammed her head back against the tree trunk in frustration, she couldn't believe that she had left the bow. The dogs attention seemed to be fully on the deer, but the tree was too close to them for Charlie to consider climbing down. Just as she was trying to get more comfortable for the long wait a loud gunshot rang in the air, the sudden sound seemed to ring in the air for a few seconds as the dogs all scattered and ran. Charlie stayed perfectly still on her branch as she watched a stocky gray haired man walk right up to the deer slinging his shotgun into a holder on his back, she saw his gaze go to her crossbow and then flicked up and looked around, her heart was pounding, the tree she was in offered no concealment and it was almost a certainty that he would see her, deciding that she would at least rather be on solid ground if he was dangerous, otherwise she'd be easy pickings with that gun of his. Charlie swiftly jumped down the tree and stood up, the man looked at her with amusement.

"Gotcha treed, did they?"

Charlie gave just a small nod, her eyes flicked towards her cross-bow laying a few feet from the man's feet. The man turned around and looked at the deer.

"You had a good kill," The man told her, he stepped around the deer to inspect further, "Dogs mauled it up some, should be able to use the hide."

Charlie stepped closer to her bow and reached down to pick it up, the man's attention was still on the deer.

"We'll still be able to get some good meat off of it," He said and looked up at Charlie.

"It's my kill," Charlie said standing up tall with her eyes narrowed.

"I guess I was assuming that you'd offer me some for my troubles," The man said looking back at her with a steady gaze, "You'd still be up that tree with the dogs eating all the meat and mangling up the hide."

They looked at one another for a while, Charlie knew he was right, she did owe him. She agreed to share and they decided on which cuts he wanted and how much.

"Much appreciated," He said, then he bent down and heaved the deer up on to his shoulders, "I'll help you get it back to the Millers and we can divide it up then."

Charlie gave him a long look, "How do you know where I'm staying?"

"We're neighbors, Frank Sidel."

"Charlie."

"John told me he had some boarders staying through the winter." Charlie could only assume that John was Mr. Millers first name.

Frank started walking, "How exactly were you planning on getting this deer back home, can't weigh much less than you."

"I'd have managed, not my first deer," Charlie said, not mentioning that the other times she had help.

"Yeah, you were managing just fine weren't you?"

His teasing sarcasm brought a scowl to Charlie's face, which was pointless as Sidel's back was to her. With a huff she followed.

"John says you're from up north?"

"Yes."

Sidel waits for a bit to see if she's going to say anything else but Charlie stays resolutely silent.

"I've got family up in South Dakota."

Charlie just nods that she heard him.

He keeps talking, "Course I haven't heard anything of them in a right while… I reckon that little niece of mine is all grown up now."

Charlie continues to stare straight ahead, seeing no reason to acknowledge that she had heard him this time, after the slight break in silence he keeps talking.

"Saw them about twenty years back, we got a picture in the mail before the black out… Probably a few years older than you I reckon."

In an attempt to steer the conversation away from "personal chit-chat" Charlie started asking about the game in the area, often times asking questions she already knew the answer to.

When they arrived back at the little house Charlie directed him to a wooden slab laid across two stumps that they had been using as a cleaning table.

Charlie made quick work of cutting away the parts contaminated by the wild dogs, aware of Sidel watching her as she cut off a rear leg including all the thigh meet to give to him.

"Know your way around a carving knife there, little lady."

"I said it wasn't my first deer."

He smiled, amused, then touched his hand to his forehead, "Well, I'll see you around… Mind you steer clear of the wild dogs."

Charlie gave him a half smile before turning her back to him to continue carving out the meat. She heard him chuckle as he walked away.

Charlie had no plan of telling Jason of the trouble she had encountered, knowing that he'd overreact, but she didn't know that Sidel had passed by Mr. Miller and recounted his run-in with her. So, instead of showing off her luck at hunting, she got lectured on safety by Jason.

After letting him rant on for a few minutes, she cute in, "Jeez, Jason. It's not like he came and pried the dogs jaws off of me! I was fine! I made it to a tree and I would've just stayed there till they moved on… It's happened before for cripes sake and I'm fine!" There had been a couple of times over her years of hunting that she had needed to crawl up a tree to escape some wild dogs. There had actually been a small pack that had taken to stalking hunters, waiting until the person had made the kill before swooping in to claim the kill as their own. Back home, with no gun, it was foolish to try to fight off the pack with a cross-bow and hunting knife. There were a few other hunters in her village and they had all banded together and killed off half the pack and sent the others running to find new hunting grounds.

"But you shouldn't be out there alone, what if you got hurt? I wouldn't know where to find you!"

What started out as a lecture turned into a fight and Charlie threw her hands up in frustration and stomped out the door.

Danny looked up from the bowl of soup that he had been focusing on, "You aren't going to win."

"Why can't she just understand?!"

Danny shrugged, "I think it's _you_ that needs to understand."

The scowl that Jason fixed on him reminded Danny so much of Captain Neville that he felt his body tense slightly.

"If she were as fragile as you think she is, she wouldn't have made it this far. Yes, she needs to be careful but don't you think that she _knows_ that… She's one of the better hunters at Sylvania," Danny said, speaking of their old village, Sylvania Estates.

"She might know that she needs to be careful but doesn't mean she is," Jason snapped, "She shouldn't be going out by herself."

Deciding not to get more involved in their same-old argument, Danny focused his attention back on the soup.

Annoyed that he couldn't get Danny to agree with him Jason followed after Charlie, what made the matter worse in his mind was that Charlie hadn't planned on telling him, she had made that clear when she blew up at him for being so worried about it.

Charlie heard him coming and without turning to face him said, "We've had this fight before, Jason. And it's getting kinda old."

"Well if you wouldn't be so stubborn-"

She whirled around and faced him, "_You're_ the stubborn one who can't understand that I _can_ take care of myself."

He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off knowing that he would bring up the times that he had saved her life, "Don't," She said putting up a finger in warning, "I'll scream if you bring up saving my life again."

He wanted to scream in frustration that she was dismissing the dangerous situations he had saved her from so easily.

"Someone needs to hunt," Charlie starts, trying to steady her voice, "You and Danny are busy for most of the days and I enjoy it, so please, just, stop treating me like I don't know what I'm doing."

Her attempt at calming her voice spurred him to take a deep breath and then say with forced calm, "We can work it out so that Danny or I can go with you."

Charlie threw up her hands with a huff, "You're being ridiculous."

She walked farther away, Jason was quick to follow.

She stopped in a moonlit clearing of the trees, the moonlight illuminated her hair draped down her back. He paused for a moment to stare at her, he felt whatever anger he had slowly ebbing away, he slowly walked up behind her and ran his hand along her back. He could feel her back muscles relax, encouraged that she hadn't sent an elbow to his stomach yet, he stepped forward and circled his hand around her waist.

Charlie slowly turned in his arms facing towards him, she put her hands on his chest and looked up, "I am not giving in."

As he wound his fingers through her hair he gave a deep sigh, it was hard to keep his mind on the argument as his eyes drifted over her bathed in the moonlight.

"I'm not either," I murmured, "But I'm kind of forgetting my point."

Charlie's breath caught in her throat as he dragged his hand lightly up her arm before running his fingers through her hair as he swept it away from her neck.

She cleared her throat, determined to win their old argument, she tried to pacify him, "I promise to be more careful."

Jason mumbled an answer that was lost as he started kissed her neck.

Charlie closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly, allowing him more room to roam around her neck, while inhaling deeply, trying to clear her mind enough to say, "You need to stop being so overprotective of me."

She felt his kisses pause, Charlie waited for a moment to see if he would say anything, when he didn't answer right away she ran her fingers through his short hair, he leaned into her touch.

Being so close to her, feeling her body pressed against his made Jason's mind foggy, the feeling of her hand running through his hair had completely left his mind blank as to anything he could say about their argument, which seemed so distant now.

When their lips met their kisses quickly became passionate and their argument was forgotten.

Danny had long since finished his soup, he was becoming too familiar with Charlie and Jason's routine, there was always something for them to disagree on, they'd argue sometimes, yell for a while, then disappear for a while and then they'd both return looking slightly ruffled. He didn't even give them or their argument much thought, his mind was busy enough. There was so much talk about the upcoming war, not just from Mr. Miller but also from people in town. They would talk a lot about the plans that General Grath had, not just for the Prairie Nation, but for the whole span of what used to be the United States. Uniting the territories.

When people spoke of General Grath it was clear that they admired and trusted him. Families willingly separated to fight for his cause. Grath had been appointed General five years after the blackout, within two years he had gained control over the Rocky Mountain District, he then designated his second in command, General Lee Harper, to be stationed near Denver at what was called the Western Post. The Rocky Mountain District's population had suffered from the Blackout, mostly from people being under-prepared for the winter months. General Grath had more petitioned to the Rockies than actually waging war to conquer the land. The population had suffered greatly from the Blackout, from people being under-prepared for a long and hard winter, and the President of the Rockies, Adam Cane decided it best to join the Prairie Nation, one of the stipulations for his agreement was that he would still be a high-ranking member of the Western Post. The Prairie Nation's rapidly growing military force was more intriguing to the now former President Cane than it was intimidating. It would take years for former President Cane to be able to increase his army to the numbers that would be required to fight off the Prairie Nation's rapidly growing military. So he took a side seat to General Harper in the Western Post of the Prairie Nation.

To establish an adequate communications between the Western Post and the Capital Post in Kansas City, stations were set up every thirty to forty miles, often times being a barn, between the two cities. Designated soldiers would carry messages via horseback traveling from station to station, the messages were transferred to a new rider and new horse at each stop until it reached the Post. The delivery time was roughly 6 days, depending on weather.

Over the next several years General Grath created a sense of order and unity across the large span on land. Sending out mission groups to help re-organize the towns and cities. There were many buildings and houses that were vacant and often times unsafe, they taught people how best to tear down buildings and harvest materials from the rumble that could be re-used.

There had already been several farmers in the area before the blackout, most had been large scale farms and had adapted well enough on their own to running a smaller farm after the loss of modern farm equipment.

General Grath had passed a law that gave people the right to defend themselves and their property but that they should act 'only with the amount force necessary' meaning that they don't want you to shoot someone just for trespassing on your property, and that you should 'only take action if defensive measures are needed'. This law, combined with a 'neighborhood watch' sort of vigilantes served the small towns ad country folks well enough, while the larger cities and directly surrounding areas also had small outposts that housed a dozen or so soldiers, to help keep the peace.

Unlike the Monroe Republic, the possession of firearms was not limited to the military, though anyone with the knowledge in weaponry or explosives was encouraged to join the military to use their skill to help their government.

Mr. Miller mentioned earlier that day that there was a newly formed alliance with Texas. Danny was sure that it didn't go unnoticed by Mr. Miller how little Danny and Jason knew about the military goings on but it was never brought up except for an occasional raised eye brow. He seemed to more be letting them carry on using their excuse of 'traveling' to be so out of the loop of things, than actually believing them.

Danny continued to sit silently and his thoughts turned towards his Uncle, his Uncle that had help create the Monroe Republic. Danny couldn't help but think of the information that could be gained from him. Would he want to help? Charlie mentioned that Nora belonged to the rebels, who seemed to be after the same thing that General Grath was after, to reuniting the country. Miles's may want to kill Monroe, but would he want to join a different militia's efforts. It was fruitless to even think of trekking back across the Monroe Republic to search for him.

Danny felt the need to help the cause. The war against Monroe was coming and he wanted to fight it.

* * *

**So, no proposal yet... sorry... he will ask her soon though. I have my plans. **

**I'll be popping up another update soon... yeah yeah, I know, I've said that before...**


	10. Chapter 10

**This chapter is a shorty, especially compared to that last chapter. **

**We do a slight backward time travel here, the train has just arrived in Philadelphia, without the prisoner...**

* * *

When the train pulled into Philadelphia, Tom embraced his wife Julia. He saw her eyes scan over the other returning soldiers.

"He's not here," Tom told her.

The tone of his voice and the seriousness of his expression made Julia's stomach clench.

"No, Tom, no," She started sputtering, fearing he was about to tell her that her son was dead, "He's not…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

Captain Neville gave a slight shake of his head, "No." He gave her shoulders a squeeze, "I don't know what is going to happen but I want you to go home, lock the doors and wait for me. Don't open the door for anyone but me, alright?"

"Tom, what happened?"

"Jason helped the prisoner escape."

Julia couldn't hide her shock at the news, "What?! Why?" Fear started settling in and she asked in a low voice, "Do you think you can get him out of trouble?" The sentence for anyone viewed as a traitor to the Republic was usually death, "You can't let them execute him, Tom. I won't let them."

"He wasn't captured, he ran off with them."

"Them?"

"The Mathesons."

Julia's eyes widened, "As in Miles Matheson?" She didn't need him to answer her, the last name Matheson was as well-known as Monroe in the Republic, "Why? I don't understand."

"Captain," A soldier approached him with a salute, "General Monroe is waiting to see you."

Tom nodded to the soldier but the soldier didn't leave but instead stood and waited.

Turning back to his wife, "I'll explain everything later, Julia. Please do as I said and wait for me at home."

Walking with the soldier, Captain Neville kept his shoulders squared, the doors to Monroe's office were opened by the two guards standing on either side.

Monroe looked up from his desk, "Tom."

Neville walked closer to the desk and saluted his General.

"I was told that the Matheson boy escaped," Monroe's voice was calm and collected but the venom in his eyes was screaming danger, "Is this true?"

"It is, sir," Neville said, still standing at attention.

"And that Lieutenant Neville helped the escape," Monroe had stood from his desk and walked around before taking a seat on the corner of his desk, "Former Lieutenant, I should say."

Captain Neville tried to keep his breath even, he had been thinking about this conversation since he had regained consciousness on the train and discovered his prisoner gone as well as his son and that Matheson girl, it hadn't taken any imagination to realize what had happened.

"Is this true also, Tom?" Monroe asked, his voice hardly louder than a whisper.

"It is, sir."

Monroe looked away, focusing out the window for a moment, then turned back to Tom, "And do you know why your son decided to desert his duties and orders... to join our enemy?"

Tom took a deep inhale through his nose, "It was the Matheson girl, sir," He tried to keep his voice calm but was unable to mask the anger he had towards the girl that had been the cause for this trouble, "She broke onto the train to get her brother. I believe that my son developed a soft spot for her during the time he was following her and Miles Matheson."

Monroe didn't break eye contact with Neville.

"He apparently has a weakness for a pretty face," Tom said, after a brief pause.

"This is bad, Tom," Monroe said quietly, "Your son betrayed us… You know how important this mission was, it was because it was so important that I trusted you with it."

"I am truly very sorry, sir. We sent soldiers out to scout the grounds to look for them and alerted all nearby camps also."

Monroe didn't respond.

"Sir?" Tom asked after a long stretch of silence, he fought to keep his voice calm but his General's continued silence was stirring his nerves.

Finally Monroe gave a sigh, "I trusted you, Tom. You have always been loyal."

"I am loyal to you, sir," Tom said.

Monroe gave a vague nod, he then lifted up a piece of paper that Tom recognized as his own report that he had sent on to Philadelphia after first capturing the boy.

"In your report you stated that you had chosen your son to stay behind Ben Matheson's village to investigate anyone who left the village."

Before they had arrived in Sylvania Estates, Ben Matheson's village, he had ordered Jason to stay out of sight and follow anyone who left the village.

"Yes, sir. His tracking skills were the best of my team. I did not think that it was likely that Ben Matheson would willingly tell _us_ where his brother was, but that he might tell a friend of family member to go and seek him out. For that reason, I allowed him time to talk to his family before detaining him."

"But you didn't detain him. He was killed."

"Yes, sir. His boy and the other villagers tried to stop us and he was shot in the cross fire. That was an accident and I did my best to prevent it."

"I do not blame you for that."

"I am sorry it happened just the same, sir."

Monroe gave another vague nod, "It appears that you were right that someone did go to get Miles."

"I was sir. Jason picked up on the trail of the Matheson girl and two companions, a man and a woman, shortly after they left… He was able to infiltrate and gain their trust, they then lead him to Miles Matheson in Chicago."

"It would appear that it was unwise to trust your son with such a mission. It was during that time that he first met the girl."

Tom's jaw muscle clenched, "Yes, sir, it was… I underestimated my son's weakness for a pretty face."

Monroe stayed silent for another long stretch of time before saying with a quiet sort of calmness, "I am not planning on killing you, Tom."

Not knowing how to respond to this, Tom stayed silent.

Monroe waited for a while before speaking again, "I have put Sergeant Strausser in charge of a team to track down Daniel Matheson and bring him to me."

Tom gave a stiff nod, "Very good, sir."

"You'll be leaving with them first thing in the morning."

Tom swallowed thickly.

Monroe continued talking, keeping his voice low and steady while keeping his eyes trained on Tom, "I am sure you were looking forward to being home after being away for so long. But, surely you understand how important this is? How important it is that you correct the mistake?"

"Yes, sir. Julia will understand I am sure."

Monroe gave a small nod, "You do understand that no one but Daniel is to be brought in alive?"

Tom gave another stiff nod. As soon as his General had said that Strausser would be in charge, he knew that there would be no survivors other that those specifically requested.

After being dismissed Tom started hurrying home, he knew Monroe and his methods too well not to see that his wife would be held as a form of collateral, to ensure that Tom wouldn't try to sabotage the mission in an effort to save his son. It was Tom's punishment for his son's desertion to help track him down and kill him. Tom tried to steel himself, he had to carry out his General orders, if he didn't he would be condemning Julia to be tortured to death.

* * *

**OK and who else was ticked that Charlie turned Jason away? I mean I get it, she's not as trusting anymore and she's pissed that his Dad was directly involved in her Dad's death and the capture of her brother, but seriously! There's war afoot people! No time to wait for trust to build up, just kiss him and fall in love already. Oh, jeez just got the shiver down my spine that they'll kill one of them off on the real show before they reach their 'happy ever after'... Could be totally wrong and I hope I am, just my drama-meter, I often try to foresee characters deaths in shows and movies, I'm sometimes right... but often wrong. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. **


End file.
